ADB to provide $50m loan to improve vocational edn
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $50 million loan to help improve Bangladesh's technical skills training system as well as create better wage and employment prospects, reports UNB.
An agreement for the loan was signed at Economic Relations Division (ERD) Wednesday. ERD Secretary Aminul Islam Bhuiyan and ADB Country Director Hua Du signed the deal.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation would co-finance the "Skills Development Project" of $66.7 million with a grant of $6.0 million, which is now under the process of approval.
The ADB loan from the concessional lending window of ADF will have a maturity of 32 years, including a grace period of eight years, with one per cent interest for the grace period, and 1.5 per cent after the grace period.
The loan aims at helping the Ministry of Education's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes market-oriented, short-term, and relevant, especially for thousands of unemployed and underemployed adult poor, who were not able to finish the eighth grade.
"The project supports the government's plan to reduce poverty and promote economic growth by providing market-relevant skills training to more Bangladeshis, including the poor and the disadvantaged," Hua Du said while signing the loan agreement.
The project targeted providing training to around 70,000 people over the five years to be completed by May 2013. Under the project, experts in the three main employment sectors - RMG and textiles, light-engineering and construction industries - would provide training.
An agreement for the loan was signed at Economic Relations Division (ERD) Wednesday. ERD Secretary Aminul Islam Bhuiyan and ADB Country Director Hua Du signed the deal.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation would co-finance the "Skills Development Project" of $66.7 million with a grant of $6.0 million, which is now under the process of approval.
The ADB loan from the concessional lending window of ADF will have a maturity of 32 years, including a grace period of eight years, with one per cent interest for the grace period, and 1.5 per cent after the grace period.
The loan aims at helping the Ministry of Education's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes market-oriented, short-term, and relevant, especially for thousands of unemployed and underemployed adult poor, who were not able to finish the eighth grade.
"The project supports the government's plan to reduce poverty and promote economic growth by providing market-relevant skills training to more Bangladeshis, including the poor and the disadvantaged," Hua Du said while signing the loan agreement.
The project targeted providing training to around 70,000 people over the five years to be completed by May 2013. Under the project, experts in the three main employment sectors - RMG and textiles, light-engineering and construction industries - would provide training.