DHAKA: Biannual negotiations on development cooperation between the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany were held in Dhaka on November 2 and 3.

The German delegation was led by Dr Wolfram Klein, Head of the South Asia Division, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, while the Bangladeshi delegation was headed by Abul Mansur Md. Faizullah, Additional Secretary, Europe Wing, Ministry of Finance.
 
Germany provides Bangladesh with an amount of 211 million Euros for bilateral Technical and Financial Cooperation.

This includes 140 million Euros to support a more reliable and efficient energy supply. These funds will be used for the improvement and establishment of energy transmission lines and substations.

The funds will be made available in the three priority areas “Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency”, “Good Governance/Rule of Law/Human Rights“ and “Adaptation to Climate Change in Urban Areas”, implemented by BGR, Institute for Geosciences, GIZ, the German Development Agency and KfW, the German Development Bank. Since 1972, Germany has contributed more than 2 billion Euros to the bilateral Development Cooperation with Bangladesh.

The German delegation complimented Bangladesh on its impressive economic development and improvements towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The German delegation underlined that developing a post-2015 agenda for sustainable development represents a central issue for the development debate of the coming months and years.

Poverty reduction and sustainable development are significant challenges that need to be tackled by the whole international community on the basis of a new universal agenda.

In regard to creating conducive conditions for sustainable development the German side stressed the importance of a constructive and open environment that allows for the participation of all societal groups. Bangladesh can be proud of the great achievements it has made in this area over the last few decades. The protection of human rights, transparency, favorable working conditions for NGOs, access to information and freedom of the media are essential for the development of a country. 

BDST: 1758 HRS, NOV 03, 2014