The government is set to place a multi-billion dollar development blueprint at the Bangladesh Development Forum meeting expected to be held on November 15-16 in Dhaka after a procrastination of five and a half years.
The move focuses on obtaining financial assistance from the participating development partners to help the country graduate to the next higher status of a middle-income country by 2021.
Additional Secretary to Economic Relations Division Monawar Ahmed yesterday issued a letter to the Finance Division in this regard.
The ERD has already formed an organising committee comprising 25 secretaries headed by its senior Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin to hold the BDF meeting in Dhaka.
According to the circular, the committee will give directives to the authorities concerned to arrange the country’s biggest development partners’ meeting in which a local seventh five-year plan will be laid down.
The last BDF meeting was held in Dhaka on February 15-16, 2010, and various disturbances held back the development meeting previously known as Paris Consortium.
The BDF has been held up for such long years due to lukewarm relations of the government with some development partners, especially with the World Bank over the alleged Padma Bridge scam as well as political turmoil on the issue of the national elections in January 2014 and Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation election in April 2015.
According to the circular, new members will be incorporated, according to the organising committee of BDF.
The committee members are senior finance and home secretary, secretaries of Prime Minister’s Office, power, education, foreign, bridges division, science and technology, environment and forestry, information and culture.
An ERD official said the approved seventh five-year plan will be presented before the meeting wherein development plans and required investment will be elaborated.
“We are attempting to ensure participation of some senior ministers from some donor countries. Besides, senior executives of the headquarters from some bilateral and multilateral development partners will also take part in the Dhaka BDF meeting,” the official said, asking not to be named.
Earlier, the high-profile meeting on development funding was scheduled to be held in Dhaka on November 2-3 in 2011, but it was deferred following a request by the World Bank Country Director and then co-chair of the Local Consultative Group Ellen Goldstein.
The ERD later decided to hold the pending BDF in the first quarter of 2012. This meeting was also not held due to the Padma Bridge standoff with the World Bank, officials said.