Push to advance investment for water resilience

Major apparel brands, development partners, development finance institutions, commercial banks, industry experts, and Bangladesh Bank joined a high-level dialogue on January 22 to advance investment pathways for water resilience in Bangladesh’s textile sector.

The event was convened by the Resilient Water Accelerator, said a press release.

Opening the session, Ella Lazarte, CEO of Resilient Water Accelerator, said Bangladesh has the opportunity to surpass global sustainability standards and become a model of excellence.

Participants discussed financing options such as dedicated credit lines, blended finance, and zero-liquid-discharge technologies. RWA’s techno-economic assessment programme, covering 25 brand-nominated factories, was highlighted as a tool to translate technical solutions into investment-ready projects.

Chowdhury Liakat Ali, head of Sustainable Finance at Bangladesh Bank, said sustainable-finance measures allow banks to offer loans below the cost of capital. 

Jishan Shamsad, sustainable finance lead at HSBC Bangladesh, emphasised blended finance to lower investment costs.