The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide Bangladesh with €250 million to help the country acquire safe and effective vaccines to inoculate its population against Covid-19.
Vaccination efforts will also involve Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh.
This is the first operation allocated under the EIB’s €425 million South Asia Public Healthcare Covid-19 program. The EU guarantees it will cover the loan.
In Bangladesh, the Maldives, and some other South Asian nations, this initiative intends to offer long-term assistance for Covid-19 vaccination, pandemic preparation, and health system resilience.
EIB Vice-President Christian Kettel Thomsen, in charge of operations in South Asia, said: “Team Europe and the Government of Bangladesh will extend their Covax vaccine purchase effort. They, together with the €1.3 billion EIB financing previously given to the Covax vaccine procurement project, are critical to expediting global vaccination and a swift viral defeat.”
Ambassador of Bangladesh to the European Union Mahbub Hassan Saleh said: “In the 22-year history of the Bangladesh-EIB collaboration, the €250 million EIB loan for vaccine procurement is the most important development. EIB engagement in crucial sectors such as climate change, infrastructure and renewable energy is expected to grow in the coming years.”
EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley said: "The EIB's large assistance is a welcome addition to Team Europe's pandemic collaboration with Bangladesh. EU-Bangladesh connections are developing in various areas, from climate change to business connectivity to people-to-people. This effort in the health sector strengthens our relationships."
The EU's EFSD+ Comprehensive Guarantee and its Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument cover the operation (NDICI).
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the EIB has been providing long-term financing to support national healthcare systems, including accelerating local vaccine deployment in countries throughout the world.
The EU bank has been supporting vaccine research and production as well as Covid-19 diagnosis and treatments.
With EIB innovative cost-sharing financial instruments and contributions from the European Commission and EU countries, Team Europe has committed more than €3 billion to Covax, the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in the history of the world.
In January 2022, Covax delivered the 1 billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose, following the distribution of the life-saving vaccines to some 144 countries.
As part of its global Covid-19 response in 2021, the EIB Group increased its financing for the health and life sciences sector to almost €5.5 billion, with €1 billion invested into health and life sciences funds.
Last year, the EIB Group provided €8.1 billion of financing to projects in more than 160 countries outside the European Union, including Bangladesh, bringing the total amount of investments outside the EU to more than €1.5 trillion.
