The Water Resources Ministry signed the MoUs -- one with Deltares, a prominent Dutch research organisation involved in water-related research, and the other with the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, a world famous Dutch institution involved in pertaining education, training and research in the water sector.
Water Resources Secretary Kabir Bin Anwar and Science Director of Deltares Jaap Kwadijk and Rector of IHE Delft Prof Dr Eddy Moors signed the MoUs on behalf of their respective sides on February 13, said the Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague on Friday.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal joined the signing ceremony at the IHE Delft while Director General of Bangladesh Water Development Board Engr Md Mahfuzur Rahman was, among others, present.
The MoU with the Deltares will enable the Bangladesh ministry to have support from Deltares in water research, particularly in the fields of delta planning, river management, policy planning and implementation, management of floods and droughts, water quantity and quality, disaster management, coastal polder management as well as geotechnical, river and coastal engineering, etc.
The MoU with the IHE Delft will enable capacity development of future young water professionals from Bangladesh through tailor-made short courses, MSc and PhD programmes, including training courses on basin-wide water resources management; joint action research to identify innovative and practical solution for water resources management in Bangladesh; and collaboration regarding proposed international training institute by the Water Resources Ministry for water resources development and management.
During his visit to IHE Delft, Secretary Anwar, Ambassador Belal and members of Bangladesh delegation exchanged views with Bangladeshi students at the institute.
They discussed the modalities how to increase the number of students in the Netherlands and particularly in IHE Delft.
These initiatives could be seen as a follow-up work of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official visit to the Netherlands in 2015 as well as preparatory work for the implementation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, said the embassy.