Govt to focus on financing next planning blueprint

The government and donors will gather in the capital next week in a traditional parley to discuss national and global agenda, officials said on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF), scheduled for January 29-30, will dwell on the implementation of the upcoming 8th five year plan and the Sustainable Development Goals, known as SDGs.

"We'll brief the development partners about the next 8th five year plan in the next meeting," said Economic Relations Division secretary Monowar Ahmed.

Bangladesh will mainly present its next development plan and programmes for achieving the SDGs as it looks to achieve the developed country status by 2041, he told the FE.

Donor nations and agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations, China, Germany, and the OPEC Fund for International Development will participate in the two-day event.

A senior ERD official said the government would update the development partners on its required investments for implementing its next planning blueprint while achieving the SDGs by 2030.

Besides, four other thematic discussions, including the private sector engagement and trade facilitation, climate change impact and financing, innovative financing for making Bangladesh a self-reliant nation, and rural transformation will be held at the forum.

General Economics Division Member Professor Shamsul Alam will present the 8th FYP, which has already been drafted, aimed at informing the development partners about the future development plans and programmes, the ERD official said.

"I will mainly present the current macroeconomic scenario and the future targets too. SDGs and our vision 2041 will be highlighted. For this reason, proper execution of the next plan is very important," Prof Alam told the FE.

He said Bangladesh will require 75 per cent of its total investments from the private sector and the development partners while the remaining 25 per cent from the government for executing the upcoming five year plan.

"We will seek not only financial support from the development partners, also the access to the technology and capacity building for reaching our targets," the GED chief said.

"Poverty, income inequality, regional disparity, quality education especially the technical education, for human resources development and the financial sector reform will be given emphasis in my presentation to the development partners," he added.

ERD officials said government policy makers, bureaucrats, private sector delegates, businessmen, and representatives from some development partners will take part in four thematic discussions.

The government side will communicate with the development partners about the required investments for its development programmes in the next five years and for achieving SDGs by 2030, an ERD official said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the BDF 2020, fourth of its kind during the Awami-league regime.

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will chair it.

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