Bangladesh will require an additional amount of US$ 928.48 billion over the period of 2017 to 2030 for the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country, says a study revealed here on Wednesday, reports UNB.
The annual average cost of SDGs will be US$ 66.32 billion (at constant prices) for this period, according to the study titled 'SDGs Financing Strategy: Bangladesh Perspective', which was prepared and published by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission.
The report along with two others -- Bangladesh Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2017 on SDGs and A Training Handbook on Implementation of the 7th Five Year Plan -- was disclosed at a programme in the National Economic Council (NEC) conference room of the Planning Commission.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the programme jointly organised by GED, Engaging with Institutions (EI), IP Project and UNDP Bangladesh.
The study estimated that an additional amount, over the current provision of cost related to SDGs by public sector, private sectors and external sources, would be around US$ 928.48 billion at 2015-16 constant prices required for SDGs in the period FY2017-FY2030, which is 19.75 per cent of the accumulated GDP under 7th FYP extended scenario.
The GED, with financial and technical support from two UNDP projects --Support to Sustainable and Inclusive Planning (SSIP) and Engaging with Institutions (EI), IP Project-- has prepared three books relating to Bangladesh's preparatory works for all-out implementation of SDGs in the country.
Prime Minister's Political Affairs Adviser HT Imam addressed the function as the chief guest, while Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi Aminul Islam, Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Finance Division Secretary Md. Muslim Chowdhury and UNDP Country Director Sudipto Mukerjee as special guests.
GED member Dr Shamsul Alam made a presentation on the findings of the reports and government efforts in implementation of the SDGs in the country.
The Planning Minister said Bangladesh is moving forward and showing a healthy sign of progress in economic and social field including that of SDGs. "We're very much on track and will hopefully achieve the SDGs well ahead of time."
"Taking an inclusive approach, we've already integrated the SDGs into our 7th Five Year Plan, mapped the ministries by targets, conducted a data gap analysis and SDGs financing strategy and preparing a SDGs monitoring framework and national action plan to achieve the global goals," he added.
