Bangladesh being considered a success case now: Aziz

FE Team | Published: October 12, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Visiting ADB vice president Liqun Jin Thursday reaffirmed the development bank's commitment to help Bangladesh unlock its potential for economic and social development, reports UNB.
"Let us take this opportunity to look back with some satisfaction at the progress that has been reached and look ahead with renewed vigor to the work remains to be done," he told a ceremony at Radisson Hotel, marking the 25th anniversary of ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM).
Political leaders, former ministers, advisers, business leaders, representatives from multilateral development organisations, economists, former and incumbent bureaucrats, diplomats and senior journalists were present.
Operations of ADB's first resident office in Dhaka started at Sonargaon Hotel with nine staff while the BRM shifted to the new building on its completion in 2004 to become the ADB's largest field office with over 50 staff.
Bangladesh joined ADB in 1973 and became one of its largest borrowers of concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF) resources.
"We share with the government and the people of this country a vision of a developed and prosperous Bangladesh. We know there are many challenges remain to be faced to realise this vision. But I am pleased that Bangladesh has steadily built a strong foundation to underpin it," Liqun said.
He mentioned that the GDP growth trended up to over 6.0 per cent annually in the past five years compared with 4.8 per cent in the 90s. The incidence of poverty declined from nearly 60 per cent in the early 90s to 40 percent by 2005.
"If the current rate of poverty reduction continues, Bangladesh will achieve the first MDG of reducing the incidence of extreme poverty by half by 2015," the ADB VP said, adding that the country is also on track to meet several other MDGs.
He expressed ADB's happiness to have the opportunity to support this progress with around US$ 9.0 billion so far. Bangladesh emerged as one of the largest borrowers of concessional ADB loans.
The major share of ADB's assistance has supported the infrastructure, education, agriculture and natural resources.
"We'll continue to support energy and transport sectors to bolster investor confidence and expand opportunities for sub-regional trade and investment," Liqun said.
Addressing the function, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said once Bangladesh has been considered as a basket case, then a test case and now it is being considered as a success case.
He mentioned the country's successes over the years, particularly in social sector development, including education and health sectors. "Our full potentials have not been realised -- still we've poverty, illiteracy, poor health situation," he said.
He added: "In fact, these could not be realised due to domestic problems, including confrontational politics, corruption, deficiency in infrastructure as well as human resources development."
The adviser said these are the areas of highest priority of the present government and sought ADB's assistance to achieve the potentials. "I'm sure ADB is with us."
He also expected that the presence of ADB vice president at the anniversary programme would help deepen and strengthen the relationship between Bangladesh and ADB.
According to ADB, their cumulative public sector lending to Bangladesh by the end of 2006 amounted to about $8.3 billion for 176 loans, and technical assistance grants amounted to $170.95 million for 318 projects in key sectors including energy, transport, social infrastructure, and agriculture and natural resources.
ADB has also supported eight private sector projects worth $242.18 million, including the Meghnaghat Power Project, the first `build-own-operate' power project in the country, and GrameenPhone.
ADB's private sector operations have been oriented to complement public sector operations to address critical infrastructure and policy constraints to mobilising private investment, both domestic and foreign.