The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the United Nations has assured Bangladesh of its active support to continue international facilities on its different operations after LDC graduation, said Planning Minister MA Mannan on Tuesday.
“During the meeting of CDP, Bangladesh’s planned preparations for the LDC-graduation process, was highly lauded. It was noted that Bangladesh’s experience can be replicable to other countries and “we got assurance of active cooperation from the CDP for continuing various international facilities after the graduation,” he said.
The Planning Minister was addressing a press conference at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area on the outcome of his participation in the recent Global
Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) Conference at the UN Headquarters. The Planning Minister attended the senior-level meeting of the GPEDC and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held at the UN headquarters from July 9-19.
General Economics Division (GED) member of the Planning Commission Dr M Shamsul Alam, Planning Secretary M Nurul Amin, Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed, Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Sourendra Nath Chakraborty and IMED Secretary Abul Mansur Md Faizullah, were present on the occasion.
The Planning Minister informed that during the CDP meeting, the graduation process from the LDC category was discussed side by side with the issue of sustainable graduation through enhancing capacity of the LDCs.
He said during the GPEDC Conference, support was sought from the member countries for resolving the Rohingya problem while Hungary expressed its interest regarding water management in Bangladesh.
Besides, Mannan said he also urged the expatriates in New York to invest in Bangladesh at a programme organized there.
Answering a question, he said that the government seeks international support for implementation of the SDGs. “But, we’ve gained capacity of implementing the SDGs. Our revenue generation has increased a lot. So, I think there will not be any problem regarding implementation of the SDGs,” he said.
GED member Dr Shamsul Alam said financing is a major challenge across the globe regarding implementation of the SDGs. “International support is needed for facing the risks of environment. For pursuing that we’ve to boost our investment through PPP and FDI. Side by side, we’ll also have to increase our revenue generation,” he said.
Dr Alam said Bangladesh is now ahead in women’s empowerment among the South Asian countries. Replying to a question, he said that an evaluation is being carried out so that Bangladesh does not face any difficulty after graduating from the LDC status.
ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed said Bangladesh might not get soft-term loans and other associated facilities after the LDC graduation. “But, many doors will be open then for getting loans. Besides, there is also GSP plus facility if we cannot avail the GSP facilities,” he said.
