German Ambassador in Dhaka Albrecht Conze on Sunday said Bangladesh can pave its way out of poverty ensuring better governance and using untapped potentials.
“The self-declared goal of reaching middle-income status by 2021 is achievable under three conditions — better governance, the use of the untapped potentials of the economy and the establishment of an attractive climate for foreign investors,” he said.
The German envoy made the remark while addressing an agreement-signing ceremony in the city, said a media release.
Albrecht Conze expressed concern over the slow pace in implementation of programmes and projects in Bangladesh. “It’s most frustrating for development partners, including Germany, to see important projects not being implemented due to long-term delay in the project approval process.”
Some projects even need to be cancelled due to the approval process getting stuck in the administration, Albrecht Conze said adding that Bangladesh should give priority to addressing this deficit.
Earlier Economic Relations Division Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Albrecht Conze signed two agreements on projects and programmes of financial and technical development cooperation implemented by the German Development Cooperation Agency CIZ and other partners.
The deals have an overall financial volume of approximately Tk 1088 crore and for the for first time since the development cooperation between both countries started in 1972 a loan in the amount of Tk 468 crore will be provided.
The loan will be used to promote the ‘Western Grid Network Development Project’ that is intended to transport power to areas in Bangladesh without proper access to energy.
The grant element of the fund will mainly be used for programmes in the fields of urban governance, social and environmental standards in the industry, overcrowding in prisons, justice reforms and corruption prevention, for the health sector and for projects to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.
Source: UNBConnect