Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday encouraged the implementation of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects on the basis of Government-to-Government (G2G) partnerships with various countries.
She also gave directives to the authorities concerned to undertake more such projects.
The directives were delivered at the 2nd meeting of the PPP Authority Board of Governors, held at the Prime Minister's Office, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
According to sources from the prime minister’s press wing, a total of 48 projects were undertaken at the meeting to be implemented under the PPP policy. Among them, agreements to implement 10 projects were signed with private partners, while two more will be signed in the near future.
If the 48 PPP projects are implemented, investment will stand at around $12.6 billion.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque, Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister, Mustafa Jabbar, Textiles and Jute Minister, Emaz Uddin Pramanik, Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman, Chief Coordinator (SDG Affairs) at the Prime Minister's Office, Abul Kalam Azad, the CEO of the PPP authority, and secretaries concerned, were present at the meeting.
In June 2017, the PPP authority took up a policy to implement PPP projects through G2G partnerships in order to strengthen bilateral relationships with other governments with the aim of developing and upgrading public infrastructure assets in partnership with other countries.
Following the policy, Bangladesh signed agreements with Japan in June 2017, and Singapore in March 2018, for the implementation of PPP projects through G2G partnerships.
At a ceremony held in Australia, the UK-based PPP Bulletin awarded the government of Bangladesh “Government PPP Promoter of the Year” in 2017.