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WB teams up with Bangladeshi gov't to strengthen e-governance, improve air quality

Xinhua, April 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Bangladeshi government Tuesday signed two additional financing agreements totaling 74 million U.S. dollars with the World Bank to improve the country's e-government services and improve air quality of capital Dhaka.

Mahmuda Begum, an additional secretary of Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division, and Rajashree Paralkar, acting World Bank country director for Bangladesh, signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides in Dhaka.

The lender said the 39 million U.S. dollars additional financing to Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICTGEG) Project will improve the e-government infrastructure and services, through which all government ministries and agencies will be able to share technology infrastructure for their systems and services.

This will allow the public sector to benefit from higher efficiency, reduce risks in the use of IT and promote the e-governance efforts in the years ahead. Bangladeshi citizens and businesses will benefit from improved reliability of public services, it said.

"These two financings will help Bangladesh improve lives and living standards of its people. The additional financing to LICTGEG project will help improve public sector administration and public services through the use of e-government technologies and innovations," said Paralkar.

"The additional financing to Clean Air and Sustainable Project will help address Dhaka's environmental, transport and traffic challenges, and help improve the city's air quality."

Poor air quality in urban area creates serious health hazards, adversely affects environment and quality of life in Dhaka. By reducing exposure to urban air pollution by 20 percent, Bangladesh could save 1,200 lives annually and avoid 80 million cases of diseases, said the bank.

It said the 35 million dollars additional financing to Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project will help augment and sustain air quality management initiatives, and testing models for improving traffic management system in Dhaka.

"Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth in the last decade. These financings will contribute to government's vision of a Digital Bangladesh, as well as improve livability of its cities by reducing air pollution, and ensuring safe mobility for its citizens," said Begum. Endit