World Bank
WB delays decision to fund road safety project: Obaidul Quader
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the World Bank is delaying its decision to finance Bangladesh’s road safety project despite repeatedly expressing interest in it.
"The World Bank has made delays after expressing interest in financing the road safety project several times. If they don’t come Bangladesh will implement the project with its own funding," he said while inaugurating virtually nine bridges under Dhaka zone.
Read: Quader trashes Fakhrul’s vaccine corruption allegation
Bangladesh needs to invest an about US dollar7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities, according a new World Bank report.
Quader also expressed hope that the Padma Bridge, Metro Rail, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel and BRT projects would be opened to traffic next year.
He instructed the authorities concerned to expedite the work on roads and bridges across the country and make up the delays caused by Covid pandemic.
Quader said a revolutionary change will take place in the communication sector across the country after the under-construction projects are completed.
Read: Metro rail services to be opened in December,2022: Quader
Turning to current politics the Awami League general secretary said the next general election will be held on time following the constitution.
Quader made it clear that elections will be held in Bangladesh in the same way as in other democracies of the world.
Stating that there will be no bias in the election, the AL leader further said that the next election will be free and fair supervised by a neutral election commission.
Refugee Policy Review done by UNHCR following its framework
The World Bank on Tuesday said the Refugee Policy Review was done by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) following the Refugee Policy Review Framework.
UNHCR collected baseline information on the existing policies, practices, and programmes, said the global lending agency in a statement posted on its website.
The WB said the review does not make any country-specific recommendations.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also said the it was for the countries which are hosting refugees.
On Monday, he reiterated the government position against any long term programme by the World Bank for integration of Rohingyas into Bangladesh but indicated some adjustments on the proposal.
Read: Bangladesh receives $590 million World Bank financing to tackle Rohingya situation
"We have dropped all ideas (from WB proposal) that doesn't match with our own philosophy that's repatriation," Dr Momen, adding that Bangladesh's priority remains repatriation of the Rohingyas.
The World Bank is helping Bangladesh address the needs of the displaced Rohingya population until their safe and voluntarily return to Myanmar, said the statement.
The World Bank is also supporting Bangladesh to minimize the impact of the influx on the host communities, it said.
The World Bank has committed $590 million for Bangladesh to address the health, informal education, safety net, water and sanitation, and basic infrastructure, including climate resilient roads, solar street lights, and disaster preparedness needs of both the displaced Rohingya and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
The World Bank’s research and analysis are also providing insights for understanding the challenges and development priorities in Cox’s Bazar.
Read: Repatriation is the only solution, not integration: FM about Rohingya crisis
"The entire $590 million financing is on grant terms. This is not a credit," reads the statement.
The Refugee Policy Review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the World Bank financing for the refugee and host communities, said the WB.
This review has been done in each of the 14 World Bank member countries that are currently hosting displaced population.
Bangladesh receives $590 million World Bank financing to tackle Rohingya situation
The World Bank is supporting Bangladesh with $590 million grant financing to address the needs of the displaced Rohingya people until their safe and voluntary return to Myanmar, and to minimise the impact on the host communities.
The Refugee Policy Review Framework aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the multilateral donor's support to refugee-hosting countries across the world to strengthen relevant policies and institutions to best manage the situation, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Mercy Tembon said.
Read: Repatriation is the only solution, not integration: FM about Rohingya crisis
The World Bank came up with a programme in Bangladesh as part of the framework through the Economic Relations Division.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char. Most of them had fled a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine in 2017.
Repatriation is the only solution, not integration: FM about Rohingya crisis
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday reiterated the government position against any long-term programme by the World Bank for the integration of Rohingyas into Bangladesh but indicated some adjustments on the proposal.
He said there might be some adjustments with the World Bank proposal with Bangladesh giving its priority to repatriation of the Rohingyas.
Read:Bangladesh against any idea leading to Rohingya integration: FM
"We’ve dropped all ideas (from WB proposal) that don't match with our own philosophy that's repatriation," Dr Momen told reporters, adding that there will be an MoU if the WB agrees with the Bangladesh proposal.
The Foreign Minister said the WB has taken a long-term programme for 16 countries which are hosting refugees and they will provide money from a Tk-2000 crore fund.
"Rohingyas are not refugees here. They’re persecuted and displaced people …they’re taking shelter here on a temporary basis," Dr Momen said.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister told UNB that the government has taken a very strong stance against the idea floated by the World Bank that apparently suggests integration of Rohingyas into Bangladesh giving them all the rights like Bangladesh citizens.
“We took a very strong stance. We didn’t like it and we opposed it strongly. We conveyed it,” said Dr Momen.
The World Bank came up with a programme as part of its Refugee Policy Review Framework globally for refugee host countries through the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
Bangladesh against any idea leading to Rohingya integration: FM
The government has taken a very strong stance against the idea floated by the World Bank that apparently suggests the integration of Rohingyas into Bangladesh as Bangladesh’s priority remains repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland.
“We took a very strong stance. We didn’t like it and we opposed it strongly. We conveyed it,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told UNB.
The World Bank came up with a programme as part of its Refugee Policy Review Framework globally for refugee host countries through the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
“Rohingyas are not refugees here. They’re taking shelter temporarily,” Dr Momen said, adding that Bangladesh wants the repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Myanmar.
Asked about the WB’s proposed programme, the Foreign Minister said the WB is saying effective steps to be taken to identify, prevent and mitigate social tensions and risk of violence among the displaced people and host communities, building good relations among themselves, and to employ them in local works.
Read: Poor host communities fume as Rohingyas start grabbing local labour market
He said they (WB) are saying Rohingyas should have the right to work and free mobility; and birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates should be issued for the Rohingyas like Bangladesh citizens. “Naturally, we don’t accept those ideas. They (WB) are willing to give money for these if we do integrate them.”
As per the WB ideas shared with the ERD, the Rohingyas should have access to local labour market, including business opportunities, the same way Bangladesh nationals have with the same payment facilities.
WB lauds Bangladesh's economic growth despite downturn
The World Bank has acknowledged Bangladesh’s remarkable economic development and growth, and reassured the global lender's continued support for this country's prosperity.
Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister, Salman Fazlur Rahman, met with World Bank’s Managing Director (Operations) Axel van Trotsenburg and other high-ranking officials at its global headquarters in Washington DC recently.
Salman led the Bangladeshi delegation, which included Abdur Rouf Talukder, Senior Secretary, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, and Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Also read: WB to provide USD 300 mn for livelihood improvement in Bangladesh
In addition to Trotsenburg, the World Bank Group was also represented by John F. Gandolfo, IFC’s Vice President, Economics and Private Sector Development (acting) and Treasurer, and Mohammad Shafiul Alam, Bangladesh’s Alternate Executive Director to the global financial institution.
In the meeting with the World Bank’s MD, Adviser Salman highlighted Bangladesh’s unprecedented economic development under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterating that the country's economy was on a solid footing.
In particular, he underscored Bangladesh’s economic performance and the GDP growth of 5.24% despite the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Salman recalled the continued financial assistance provided by the World Bank to Bangladesh and thanked the global lending body for its contribution.
He also highlighted the need to reduce procedural delay -- through bilateral discussions and close engagement -- in the disbursement of the loans sanctioned by the World Bank for Bangladesh to purchase Covid-19 vaccines on an emergency basis.
Also read: Manufacturing sector’s productivity crucial for Bangladesh to offset Covid impacts: WB
At a separate meeting, the Bangladesh delegation led by Adviser Rahman met with IFC’s South Asia Vice President and the World Bank’s acting South Asia Vice President.
Both sides agreed to accelerate cooperation in crucial areas, including Bangladesh’s reform efforts regarding ease of doing business, BIDA’s institutional capacity enhancement, and skills and human resources development.
WB to provide USD 300 mn for livelihood improvement in Bangladesh
The World Bank will provide USD 300 million to the government of Bangladesh as loan to implement a five-year project on livelihood improvement scheduled to begin from July next.
The government will chip in USD 40 million for the project titled, ‘Resilience, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Improvement (RELI) Project’, raising its total cost to USD 340 million.
Read: WB approves $191mn credit for Bangladesh’s education sector
The signing ceremony of the Financing Agreement between the Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, and the World Bank; and the Project Agreement between the World Bank and Social Development Foundation (SDF), the implementing agency, was held on June 27 last.
Fatima Yasmin, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Mercy Miyang Tembon, the World Bank’s Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, signed the Financing Agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
Tembon also inked the Project Agreement on behalf of the World Bank while AZM Sakhawat Hossain, Managing Director of the SDF, signed the per procurationem for the implementing agency. SDF Chairperson Md. Abdus Samad, also a former Senior Secretary, was also present at the signing ceremony, according to a SDF media release.
Built on the success of the first and second Social Investment Programme Projects and the Nuton Jibon Livelihood Improvement Project, the RELI project will mobilize, develop, and strengthen community organizations, and finance their community plans to provide cash transfers and loans for income-generating activities.
Read: Manufacturing sector’s productivity crucial for Bangladesh to offset Covid impacts: WBThe project will provide training to almost 490,000 people on climate risk, adaptation, and resilience building. It will also build 5,120 climate-resilient small-scale infrastructures.“The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the poor in rural areas, particularly women, by limiting their income and economic opportunities,” said World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Mercy Tembon.“This project will help boost the rural economy and 90 percent of the beneficiaries will be women. The project will also help with health and nutritional awareness. When a woman earns more, her family and the community are better off,” Mercy Tembon added.The project will support rural entrepreneurs and producer groups with market linkages including e-commerce platforms, partnerships with local governments, and promotional activities, said a WB press release.
Read: Helping poor in Bangladesh: WB approves $600 mn for 2 projectsIt will also provide skills development training to the unemployed or under-employed youth and returnee migrants to increase their employability.Economic Relations Division Secretary Fatima Yasmin said, “Through community mobilization and climate-smart agriculture practices, the project will help rural women withstand any future shocks like the pandemic without falling back to poverty.”
WB approves $191mn credit for Bangladesh’s education sector
The World Bank on Friday approved a $191 million credit to Bangladesh to help it strengthen the higher education sector and respond better to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Board of Executive Directors of the lending agency gave the approval to the Higher Education Acceleration Transformation Project.
The credit is from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), and has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.
Read: Manufacturing sector’s productivity crucial for Bangladesh to offset Covid impacts: WB
The first World Bank supported regional education project in South Asia will support regional collaboration in the higher education sector, including student mobility through equivalence programs, credit transfer schemes, and university twinning arrangements within the region, said a World Bank media release.
It will also help more women access to quality higher education, which will result in increased female labor force participation.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit hard the higher education sector in South Asia, causing more dropouts and fewer enrolments.
Female students are likely to be disproportionately impacted, further exacerbating the existing gender gap in higher education.
The project will support pandemic and emergency response and build systemic resilience in the higher education sector with a specific focus on digitization.
Read:Helping poor in Bangladesh: WB approves $600 mn for 2 projects
It will establish a South Asian Higher Education Portal, hosted in Bangladesh, to facilitate the ‘virtual mobility' of students, by allowing students from the registered universities to take courses for credit outside their home country.
In addition to Bangladesh, students from other South Asian countries will be able to access the portal.
It will also strengthen regional cooperation among the National Research and Education networks (NRENs) and provide expanded access and connectivity for students.
The project will upgrade the Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN) and will offer a subsidized connectivity package to students and the participating universities in BdREN.
South Asia region has the second-lowest female labour force participation rate globally. To enable more women to access quality higher education, get better jobs, and become leaders, the project will build a network of women’s universities and institutions, which will be initially anchored on the Asian University of Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Read:3 legal luminaries appointed from Bangladesh to WB's arbitration court
“For our collective future, higher education is a necessity, not a choice. As Bangladesh aspires to achieve upper middle-income status, the country needs to invest in its youth to create a skilled and globally competitive workforce” said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“This financing will help Bangladesh strengthen quality and relevance of tertiary education particularly for women, as well as ensure business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
World Bank Task Team Leader of the project Mokhlesur Rahman said: “The project will help meet the increasing demand for quality higher education in South Asia. Further, it will also help South Asian countries benefit from regional cooperation in higher education and strengthen research and innovations capacities in the universities.”
Manufacturing sector’s productivity crucial for Bangladesh to offset Covid impacts: WB
To boost export growth and help the economy rebound from the COVID 19 pandemic impacts, improving the manufacturing sector’s productivity will be crucial for Bangladesh, says a new World Bank report launched today.
The report, ‘Gearing up for the Future of Manufacturing in Bangladesh’ suggests that by strengthening innovation and technology adoption in firms, the manufacturing sector can improve productivity.
For this, the report identified three pillars: capabilities of managers and workers, connectivity to international markets, and complementary markets and institutions.
Read:Helping poor in Bangladesh: WB approves $600 mn for 2 projects
Adopting new technologies and business practices will also help firms recover faster from the COVID-19 crisis.
“Bangladesh’s success in readymade garments (RMG) export has created about four million jobs and driven economic growth. But, in recent years, job creation in the RMG sector slowed due to automation and the trend will likely accelerate in the post pandemic world,” World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Mercy Tembon said.
“This creates the urgent need for Bangladeshi manufacturers to shift gears from competing on low labor-intensive productivity to competing on higher productivity. For this to happen, firms will need to adopt better technologies across business functions and production processes.”
The report finds that in Bangladesh, most firms still use basic or near-basic technologies. For example, more than 40 percent of firms still use handwritten documents for business administration, while three-fourth of them practice manual quality inspections.
Managerial and technical capabilities are crucial for a turnaround. About half of the manufacturing firms are run by people without college degrees.
Read: 3 legal luminaries appointed from Bangladesh to WB's arbitration court
Compared to these firms, those with college-educated managers have a 10 percent higher level of technology. Hence, building human capital remains an important agenda, as well as enabling firms to. access advisory services in cost-effective ways.
International connectivity also contributes to the spread of technology. Firms doing business with multinational companies use more advanced technology than those working only in the local market.
Export diversification beyond the readymade garments (RMG) sector will be crucial. Reducing restrictions on international trade and Foreign Direct Investment, making the duty-free import of raw materials more accessible to firms outside the RMG sector and modernizing special economic zones will help diversify export-led growth.
Strong financial institutions and regulatory frameworks underpin the importance of complementary markets for technology adoption.
About half of the surveyed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) identified a lack of financing as the main barrier to adopting technology.
Read:Govt, WB ink $250 mn deal to help Bangladesh create more jobs
To help firms to borrow for their technology needs easily, a stronger financial sector will be needed. Continuing with regulatory reforms to reduce the cost of doing business too remains vital.
“Creating more and better jobs is a development priority for Bangladesh. An export-led manufacturing sector can create sustainable and better-paying jobs by adopting better technologies,” said Siddharth Sharma, World Bank Senior Economist and a co-author of the report.
“As Bangladesh seeks to diversify its export base, move up the value chain, and create better-paying jobs, improving the productivity of firms remains central to preparing for the future of manufacturing.”
Bangladesh has potential to become $800bn economy by 2030: Experts
Bangladesh urgently needs to go for a fresh round of reforms to strengthen the private sector to tap its economic potentials and accelerate the export-led growth, said a report on Wednesday.
The report titled ‘Bangladesh Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD), prepared by IFC and the World Bank, also said Bangladesh’s post–Covid recovery will force a reimagining of its developmental model, highlighting the importance of the private sector and making the reform agenda even more urgent.
Taking part in the virtual report-launching event, experts said Bangladesh has the potential of becoming an economy of $800 billion by 2030 from the current $300-billion one if proper steps are taken to diversify its export basket and ensure the ease of doing business through necessary reforms.
Launching the report, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Affairs Adviser Salman F Rahman said the diversification of export is very important, though the country has been facing challenges in this regard. “Our dependence on the RMG has been highlighted for a long time that we need to diversify our exports …diversification should be our priority now.”
He said the RMG sector has got tremendous support from the government for its expansion, but similar support has not been given to other areas, and this is something the government is now seriously looking at. “What we really need to do is to identify the reasons for which the garment sector has been so successful and we can apply the same principles to the other sectors.”
Also read: Covid-19 affected 60 million-plus domestic workers in informal economy: ILO
Salman said protectionism for the domestic industry is necessary since the country is going to graduate to a middle-income one. “The pharmaceutical industry which has been identified as a real growth sector since it has got that protectionism.
“Bangladesh had a positive GDP growth rate last year despite the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and it was the only country in South Asia which did not experience a recession. We’ve prepared the Eighth Five Year Plan keeping all the challenges of the pandemic in mind,” he said.
The PM’s adviser said the CPSD recommendations are well aligned with the priorities of the government’s Eighth Five Year plan for setting a trajectory towards a prosperous Bangladesh by 2041.
As the country is aspiring to achieve double-digit growth, Salman said, the government has taken various steps, including developing the infrastructure, increasing foreign direct investment and creating an investment-friendly climate.
He said the economic zones and mega connectivity projects like Matarbari Port and Padma Bridge that are now under construction will be the gamechangers in the coming years.
He said the agro-processing industry is making good progress and it will be another gamechanger for Bangladesh.
Also read: Govt. goes for more consumption and investment to recover economy from pandemic loss
Mamun Rashid, Managing Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Bangladesh Private Limited, said the report has focused on the private sector capacity building as well as the government’s capacity building.
“When we’re talking about reforms and strengthening capacity building, I try to draw your attention towards the capacity building of our private sector, efficiency improvement of our private sector as well as improving the overall balance sheet of the private sector,” he said.
IFC’s Vice President (Asia and Pacific), Alfonso Garcia Mora said the need for reforms will become even more compelling for Bangladesh to overcome the fallouts of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Finding new sources of income and growth will be an urgent priority.”
He also said the private sector, which already accounts for more than 70 percent of all investment in Bangladesh, supported by a strong financial sector, will need to play an important role in spurring the recovery so the country can grow, export and create quality jobs.
IFC Country Manager Wendy Werner said it is clear the private sector has an important role to play to meet the rising demand for quality healthcare and improving the efficiency of delivering health services, as health financing in the country is low compared to others at a similar level of development.
“Bangladesh could also target high-end markets and introduce new technology in the readymade garment sector, and seize opportunities in footwear, leather electrical goods, and agribusiness exports,” she observed.
Also read: Budget document: Preparations under way to face the challenges of developing economy
World Bank’s Country Director Mercy Tembon said readymade garments have contributed significantly to Bangladesh’s economic growth. “For a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth, Bangladesh will need to diversify its export basket and develop a robust and sophisticated private sector, relevant in the post–Covid recovery phase when public resources will be needed most in the social sectors.”
The report says key priority areas for the reform agenda include creating a favourable trade and investment environment for domestic and foreign investors, modernising and expanding the financial sector and removing impediments for developing infrastructure.
“Transport and logistics, energy, financial services, light manufacturing, agribusiness, healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors are among those with the strongest potential for private investment that could play a significant role in boosting economic growth,” the report observes.