The Asian Development Bank yesterday unveiled its partnership strategies for Bangladesh that it will help the government cut poverty by 10 percentage points by 2015.

The Bangladesh Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2011-2015 supports Bangladesh's development goals for boosting investment to 32.5 percent of gross domestic products and tripling investment in infrastructure to 6 percent of GDP by 2015, said the ADB local office in Dhaka.

The targets also include reducing poverty headcount ratio by 10 percentage points by 2015 from 31.5 percent in 2010, said Thevakumar Kandiah, country director of ADB Bangladesh Resident Mission.

Under the CPS, the ADB will provide around $4.5 billion to Bangladesh up to 2015 to help the country face development challenges in areas of energy, transport, urban development, education, agriculture and natural resources and finance.

Of the amount, $2.4 billion will be provided under the concessional Asian Development Financing and $ 2.1 billion as Ordinary Capital Resources. Bangladesh will also receive technical assistance of about $9.6 million per year, said Kandiah.

His comments came at the launching of "Bangladesh Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2011-2015" at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

The CPS is an outcome of elaborate consultation with stakeholders, including the government, development partners, civil society, academia and the private sector, said Kandiah. "The CPS is closely aligned with Bangladesh's Sixth Five-Year Plan, and the strategy builds on ADB's long operational experience in key sector in Bangladesh."

The Manilla-based lender has committed to provide project and programme assistance of about $900 million per year during 2011-15.

"ADB will also provide significant technical assistance for building institutional capacity and preparing good quality projects. The resources will be supplemented by climate investment funds, other climate change initiatives, and efforts to mobilise additional funding for sub-regional initiatives," said Kandiah.

He said Bangladesh has to introduce further reforms including expediting the project implementation to achieve its targets outlined in the Sixth Five-Year Plan. "Project start up delays need to be reduced, DPP/TPP approval has to be quickened, and project readiness ensured. Procurement and resettlement practices need to be improved."

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said development partners need to harmonise their strategies with the country's goals for effective, meaningful and fruitful development.

He said almost all development partners have set their strategies in line with the government's development goals and objectives defined in the Sixth Five-Year Plan.

The minister conceded that Bangladesh has no other alternatives but to set some ambitious targets to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty.

Nearly 50 million people or 31.5 percent of the total population still live below the poverty line and Bangladesh is the largest concentration of illiterate people in the world as half of the population does not know "three Rs" that stands for reading, writing and arithmetic. Bangladesh is also positioned at the lowest level of per capita income in the world, he said.

"So, we have no other options but to set our target high to make progress, fulfill our pledges and become a middle income country," said Muhith.

The minister also said Bangladesh needs to work harder to improve in the areas of education, health, infrastructure and good governance. He particularly emphasised upon good governance.

"We also need gender equity and a large scale of employment."

Iqbal Mahmood, secretary of Economic Relations Division, urged ADB to give more power to its country-level office so that it can give decision quickly, thus contributing to cost minimisation and time saving.

The issues such as gender equity, good governance and capacity development, private sector development, regional cooperation, knowledge solutions and partnerships have received substantial focus under the latest CPS, said Zahid Hossain, senior country specialist, ADB.

Source: The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 8th Dec 2011