World Bank Provides 507 mln USD financing to improve Infrastructures in Bangladesh

The World Bank has approved 507 million U.S. dollars financing for two projects in Bangladesh.

The financing aims at enhancing the local financial institutions' capacity to provide long-term financing for private sector-led infrastructure projects and improving multimodal transport and trade logistics infrastructure and services, including modernizing of land ports.

Built on the success of a predecessor project, the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) II Project will continue enabling the participating local financial institutions to offer long-term funding to private companies to build infrastructure in various sectors including waste management, water treatment, energy saving equipment, container terminals, land ports, and bridges, said the Washington-based lender in a statement received here Friday.

Due to limited capacity and market constraints, local financial institutions traditionally could not meet the longer-term financing demand for infrastructure investments, it said.

The project will help participating local financial institutions to extend long-term credits for infrastructure ventures beyond the usual lending period of five to seven years. Eligible financial institutions can apply for IPFF II funding through Bangladesh Bank, said the bank.

"Bangladesh needs faster and higher quality growth to attain its vision of becoming a middle income country by 2021. The World Bank is supporting Bangladesh to overcome key bottlenecks to higher growth including addressing the huge infrastructure gap, and improving intra-regional connectivity and trade logistics," said Qimiao Fan, World Bank country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

"These two projects will help develop the much-needed infrastructures through building a private sector-led, long-term infrastructure financing platform and improving trade logistics."

To improve connectivity and trade with India, Bhutan, and Nepal, the Regional Connectivity Project 1 will invest in infrastructure, systems and procedures to modernize three key land ports at Bhomra, Sheola and Ramgarh and improve security at the Benapole land port, said the bank.

Through the development of customs modernization and ICT infrastructure, the project will reduce the average time needed to meet the regulatory requirements associated with trade activities, and clear traded goods at land ports, it said.

In addition, according to the statement, the project will benefit female traders and entrepreneurs through facilitating skills development programs, improving logistics and transport services at key border points, and developing a simplified trade regime and clearance procedures.

The World Bank said the projects will be funded by the World Bank's concessionary arm, the International Development Association (IDA). Endite