Dhaka, Bangladesh Global: Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali discussed the issue of getting more funds for Bangladesh at the OPEC Fund conference. OPEC Fund Development Forum-2024 was held on Monday (June 25) in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
Apart from the Finance Minister, the Bangladesh delegation includes State Minister for Finance Wasika Ayesha Khan, Bangladesh Ambassador to Austria Asad Alam Siam and Additional Secretary of the Department of Economic Relations Mirana Mahrukh.
According to a press release of the Ministry of Finance, on the sidelines of the conference, the Minister of Finance held a meeting with the Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (Kafid) Walid Al Bahar.
He expressed gratitude for the continuous support and assistance of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development since 1974. The finance minister also requested for more support in the future.
Acting Director General assured that more funds will continue to support the development of Bangladesh. Apart from the public sector, he also expressed his interest in helping the private sector of Bangladesh.
After the meeting, a loan agreement was also signed between the Government of Bangladesh and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Fund for the 'Chunkuri Bridge Project' over the Chunkuri River in Khulna District. The total cost of the project will be 86.91 million dollars, of which 42.20 million dollars will be given by Kafid and 30 million dollars will be given by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
The project will be implemented to increase the economic and social development of the southwestern region of Bangladesh and facilitate the movement of passenger and freight vehicles through direct road connectivity of the region with the capital.
Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali also met OPEC Fund President Abdul Hamid Al Khalifa. He thanked the OPEC Fund for giving money to 32 projects for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. He thanked the fund for helping Bangladesh during the Covid pandemic by providing budgetary support.
The President of OPEC Fund said that OPEC Fund, as Bangladesh's trusted development partner, must increase Bangladesh's development assistance.
Accepting the idea of a framework agreement given by the Finance Minister, he said, OPEC will sign this framework agreement for 3 to 5 years for greater cooperation.
Bangladesh Global/FR
Stay tuned for latest news and updates bangladeshglobal.com Log in to get breaking news and hot topics of the day:www.bangladeshglobal.com
