Message from the Country Director

I am delighted to learn that officials from various ministries and agencies of the Government of Bangladesh have received hands-on training in different aspects of managing public-private partnerships (PPPs) under the World Bank-supported Bangladesh Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) project. I congratulate the officials who are receiving certificates today on successfully completing this training program, conducted by experts of international repute over the last six months. Going forward, I anticipate that these officials will apply the technical knowledge and managerial skills that they have gained from the training program in their respective work places, and that this will help to move the PPP agenda forward in Bangladesh. I also congratulate the IPFF Cell at Bangladesh Bank, the implementing agency of the IPFF Project, for arranging this training program.
I welcome the decision of the Government of Bangladesh to adopt PPPs as a strategic instrument for improving service delivery in the social sectors (including health and education) as well as in the provision of critical business-related infrastructure. The World Bank has been supporting this initiative since 2006 and will continue to do so, with a view to integrating global best practices from countries advanced in leveraging private resources for enhancing the delivery of social and infrastructure services. In this context, I am particularly happy to note that the IPFF project's technical assistance component is helping the Government of Bangladesh to establish a Central PPP Office and a PPP Unit in the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance.
Achieving Bangladesh's development goals will require significant financial and technical resources for building modern infrastructure over the short, medium and long terms. Crowding in private sector resources, both from domestic and international sources, will be essential to success, and the World Bank is pleased to use its extensive global experience in this area to help the Government of Bangladesh in this important endeavor.
Sincerely,

Johannes Zutt
The World Bank