Germany to dole out Euro 211m aid for 2 yrs

Germany will provide Euro 211 million worth of aid in two years to help Bangladesh improve its energy supply and establish good governance, officials said Monday.
 "After two days negotiation, we've signed a protocol with Germany Monday to receive the 211 million Euros worth of assistance this year and next year," said additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division Abul Mansur Md. Faizullah said.
He said the assistance would be channeled to 11 development projects in Bangladesh.
The ERD officials sat for negotiations with a German delegation on November 2-3 in Dhaka.
Dr. Wolfram Klein, Head of the South Asia Division of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, led the German delegation while Bangladeshi delegation was headed by Mr. Abul Mansur Md. Faizullah.
Mr Faizullah said the German development partner --the KfW -- alone would provide 139.5 million Euros worth in soft loan to support a more reliable and efficient power supply.
The fund will be used for the improvement of the national power grid and substations of the state-owned Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB).
The rest f 71.5 million Euros out of total 211 million Euros will be utilised for other projects, especially for improving the impact of the climate change, developing renewable energy, and governance and human rights.
The German development agencies --the BGR, the Institute for Geosciences, the GIZ, the German Development Agency and KfW, the German Development Bank would provide the financial and technical support to the Bangladesh government.
Since 1972, Germany has provided more than 2.0 billion Euros of assistance to Bangladesh under its bilateral development cooperation.
German Embassy in Dhaka in a press statement Monday said the German delegation in the negotiations with ERD hailed Bangladesh on the country's impressive economic development and improvements towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
In regard to creating conducive conditions for sustainable development, the German side stressed the importance of a constructive and open environment that allows for the participation of all societal groups, it said.
The German delegation said the protection of human rights, transparency, favorable working conditions for NGOs, access to information and freedom of the media are essential for the development of a country.  

kabirhumayan10@gmail.com