The World Bank (WB) will provide development assistance to Bangladesh for establishing a modern Disaster Risk Management Institute (DRMI) to train up skilled manpower to aid people during and after any natural disasters, a government official said on Tuesday.

Senior spokesman of Bangladesh's Ministry of Food and Disaster Management Gholam Kibria disclosed this to Xinhua on Tuesday after a meeting between the country's Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak and the WB Country Director to Dhaka Zhu Xian.

Kibria quoted Zhu as saying in the meeting that the multilateral agency will continue its supports to Bangladesh in addressing risks of climate change and natural disasters.

Zhu said the WB will not only help to establish the institute but also provide supports for conducting training courses as Bangladesh's disaster minister sought cooperation in this regard.

"We'll also provide technical assistance to Bangladesh in establishing the institute to make it more useful," Kibria quoted Zhu as saying.

Kibria said the proposed institute, which will be first in the country on disaster risk management, may also provide training opportunities to people from other South Asian countries.

He said the WB provided Bangladesh US$8.0 million after super cyclone Sidr hit the country in November 2007 for minimizing disaster risks. The fund, which had not been utilized for the aforesaid purpose, will now be expended for building the institute, Kibria said.