PPP initiatives a must to attract more investment
Says Muhith
Underscoring the need for more investment in Bangladesh, Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiatives are needed to attract more investment in order to reach the country's target growth rate.
“Unless investment is raised in Bangladesh from the current 25 percent (of the Gross Domestic Product), how do we expect to reach a level of 8 to 10 percent growth (rate of GDP),” he said.
He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a two-day workshop styled “Project identification and feasibility study” organised by Prime Minister's Office and Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) Project of Bangladesh Bank at a city hotel.
The workshop is a part of a two-day capacity-building programme for senior government officials to enable them to effectively start the country's PPP programme. Around 100 senior government officials were trained during the workshop, conducted by Institute of Policy, Advocacy and Governance (I-PAG).
The minister said to achieve the targeted growth rate, there is a need to create assets where the PPP models can play an important role.
He said with all the progress being made particularly in the last 10 to 15 years, the country is still a “pretty poor country”.
About spending PPP funds, Muhith said the budget allocated for PPP in the current fiscal (Tk 3,000 crore) would not be enough to meet the demands due to a number of awaiting projects. He said he was not sure on the amount to provide next year.
Mentioning that transport still remains a bottleneck in Bangladesh, Muhith said PPP could be a good option in developing land, river and seaports. “PPP is doing very well despite some pessimistic comments,” he said.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said the recently heightened concerns worldwide about sustainability of public debt levels in advanced economies indicate that PPPs are likely to be the dominant mode of infrastructure investments in the coming years everywhere.
Principal Secretary to the prime minister MA Karim, IPFF Project Director and Bangladesh Bank Executive Director SK Sur Chowdhury, World Bank financial sector expert AKM Abdullah and I-PAG Chairman Syed Munir Khasru also spoke.
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