The government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed two agreements for $161 million in loan to finance different projects on job skills development and urban water supply.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed and ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides in Dhaka on Monday (Nov 25), said media statements.
The ADB will provide $150 million in loan under the third and last tranche of the ongoing Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP).
The program is providing market-responsive skills training through partnerships with public institutes, industry associations and other organizations, covering skills requirements in 10 industry sectors.
Lauding Bangladesh for its first-paced economic development, Manmohan Parkash said this is a flagship ADB program for providing market-responsive inclusive skills training in emerging trades and strengthening institutions like National Skills Development Authority and the National Human Resource Development Fund.
“Skilling to improve human capital is critical for Bangladesh in becoming a developed nation by 2041,” he added.
He said Bangladesh can further boost its economy by skilling the workforce; and increase its inward remittance many folds by exporting skilled workers.
“The assistance will introduce selected advanced courses to adopt and adapt emerging Industry 4.0 skill requirements and help industries move up the value chain,” he added.
Overall, the project will train about 320,000 people, 30 percent of whom will be women. It will support new training specifically targeted at socially disadvantaged groups (including people with disabilities) and women entrepreneurs to ensure inclusive skilling efforts.
The Asian lender will also provide Bangladesh with US$11 million in loan to help develop two
priority urban sector projects in water supply and sanitation.
The assistance under the ‘Urban Infrastructure Improvement Preparatory Facility’ will help manage the technical and implementation issues upfront to secure high readiness of the ensuing investment projects.
The projects that the facility will help prepare are ‘Secondary Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project’ under the Department of Public Health Engineering, and Narayanganj Urban Development Project under Narayanganj City Corporation.
Sound technical capacity for project preparation and implementation, high-quality feasibility studies, safeguards, engineering designs and efficient procurement and contract management are critical for smooth project implementation, Manmohan Parkash said.
“This facility will help prepare priority urban projects by addressing technical and implementation issues so that investment projects are implemented quickly with the highest standards,” he added.
The project will support the Department of Public Health Engineering in preparing water supply and sanitation investment projects in selected secondary towns and city corporations where development is lagging.
In target towns, the facility will support the shift from intermittent and groundwater-based supply to continuous supply from surface water.
It will also support the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) in improving water supply, drainage, and urban roads. The facility includes support to build NCC’s capacity for municipal financial management to ensure the sustainability of urban infrastructure investments, and their operation and management.