Bangladesh moves to bolster cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for financing priority projects as its pace of assistance to Dhaka has slowed of late, officials say.
The government in a meeting last month requested the Jeddah-based lender to confirm its assured $900 million assistance to facilitate implementation of the country's priority development projects, they said Friday.
The Economic Relations Division (ERD) recently called the Jeddah-based lender for providing the assured funds for bankrolling 11 earmarked development projects, Division officials said.
"In the past month, we had a virtual meeting with the IsDB. We have requested the lender to come out from its dawdling stance for the confirmation of the funds for different projects," says one senior ERD official.
"Within last one and a half years, we had sought financial support for different sectors, including energy, transport and agriculture, from the IsDB, but the Jeddah-based lender was yet to confirm any," he adds.
Now they are hopeful of getting confirmation of most of the assured assistance within this fiscal year (FY), 2021-22.
The Islamic Development Bank is one of the key development partners of Bangladesh which is helping in the country's development through providing its financial and technical cooperation over the last four decades.
In recent years, the assistance flow from the IsDB has slowed down.
In the last FY2021, the financier confirmed $176.11 million worth of loans and grants for Bangladesh against different projects and programmes.
It has so far provided nearly $1.1 billion worth of total foreign assistance since its operation inception in FY1977 to Bangladesh.
Another ERD official said: "The IsDB support has slowed down over the last few years. We want to get more support from the Jeddah-based lender as Bangladesh needs huge investment in its infrastructure development.
"We are hopeful of getting a speedy response for the support for all of our development projects," he adds.
In the last meeting, Bangladesh sought the single-highest amount of $216.79 million for facilitating surface water-based water supply in 18 districts.
It had also sought $134 million for agriculture mechanization and employment-opportunity development, $36.20 million for madrasha infrastructure and learning environment improvement, and $70 million for upgrading 11 nuclear medicine centres across the country.
Bangladesh has also requested the IsDB for confirming $88.53 million in loan for agriculture development in Chittagong Hill Tracts area, $25 million for rice-production improvement, $56 million for prepaid gas metre installation in BGDCL area, $37 million for prepaid gas metre installation in PGCL area, another $79.01 million for gas prepaid metre installation by BGDCL and $52.33 million for Satkhira-Khulna gas-pipeline installation.
Bangladesh joined the IsDB in August 1974 as one of its founding members. The first IsDB operation in Bangladesh was undertaken in March 1977.
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