Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) presented their research findings on five major barriers to implementing Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects in Bangladesh on Wednesday.
The paper found cost and time overruns, lack of proper project appraisal, weak project monitoring by the government, corruption, and lack of capacity to be the biggest barriers to PPP project implementation.
BIBM collected data from 31 banks and financial institutions, 24 Ministries and seven donor agencies.
Director of BIBM Prashanta Kumar Banerjee presented the research paper titled “Financial and non-financial issues in implementing PPP in Bangladesh” at BIBM auditorium.
The study also found five other barriers which are mainly financial, that includes immature bond market, lack of long term financing, high cost of project financing, difficulties in raising adequate fund and high project costs.
Speaking as the chief guest, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan said: “PPP is a complex model and the success of this depends on a number of critical factors. Many constraints and challenges also create barriers to the successful implementation of this innovative initiative.”
Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited Executive Director and CEO SM Formanul Islam pointed towards statistics that show an unsatisfactory success rate for PPP because the concept is still at an early stage of implementation, and the project result can actually become visible 15 to 100 years after they are implemented.
“PPP cannot be a success without a vibrant public sector and unless the government takes more ownership,” he added.
Former Meghna Bank Managing Director Mohammed Nurul Amin said that although PPP is a big part of the economy, a lack of corporate governance still hinders the proper implementation of the projects.
Former Sonali Bank managing director SA Chowdhury said more reforms are needed in PPP guidelines because the last decade was just an attempt at learning about corporate governance.
Another research paper called, “An evaluation of core banking software in banks of Bangladesh,” was also presented on Wednesday by BIBM Associate Professor Md Mahbubur Rahman.
The paper presented the current status and market share of core banking software, where 27 banks are using foreign software, 19 banks are using local software, and six banks have developed software in joint venture, while only two banks have been able to develop their own software according to the latest data.
BIBM Director General (DG) Toufic Ahmad Choudhury chaired the event, which was also addressed by BIBM Supernumerary Professor Md Yasin Ali, among others.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
