Government officials will sit with World Bank executives in Washington in mid-April for discussion of areas of mutual interest for further development of Bangladesh's financial sector, sources said.
The meet is slated for April 11-14, a day before the inauguration of spring meeting of the World Bank.
Apart from the secretary of the banks and financial institutions division (BFID), the heads of several financial-sector regulatory bodies of the country are also expected to attend the meeting where several sessions will take place to work out plans for development of Bangladesh's financial sector.
Heads of Bangladesh Bank, Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (B SEC), Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA), and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) are to participate in the sessions.
Issues like financial stability, banking-sector modernisation, long-term financing and bond-market development, housing finance, development of private equity /venture capital, technology in finance/microfinance, and SME finance will be discussed.
Also among the topics are enhancement of financial-sector legal framework, financial- sector governance, insurance-sector and pension-market development, development of postal finance service, and development of agriculture insurance.
Financial Sector Specialist of the World Bank Dhaka Office Shah Nur Quayyum told the FE the bank has engagement in several financial arenas of the country, which include a project titled 'modernisation of state-owned financial institutions and insurance and pension market development'.
He said whenever any high-level delegation visits head office of the World Bank, the activities of the bank in other countries are being showcased to them through presentations.
Through these presentations the participants and World Bank officials share knowledge among them, which helps them in implementation of various projects in their respective countries, Mr Quayyum said.
The government representatives later take various projects for financial development of their countries based on the knowledge gathered from the meetings.
Mr Quayyum said a delegation of Bangladesh had attended such a meeting in Washington in October 2014. The project on automation of Bangladesh's state-owned banks, development of insurance, and pension-market development was taken following the discussion at the meeting, he said.
"The meeting aimed at further deepening the bank's engagement in Bangladesh's financial-sector development," he noted.
Secretary of the banks and financial institutions division Dr Aslam Alam told the FE that the government has chalked out various development programmes for country's financial sector where the World Bank is providing financial and technical assistance.
He said move is there to further increase World Bank's engagement in Bangladesh's financial development. "It will be discussed at the meeting in Washington before the spring meeting of the bank," he said.
Mr Alam said the government wants financial inclusion to further make services available to people at their doorsteps. "The World Bank's assistance is helping the government materialise the vision."
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