Bangladesh and France on Monday signed €184 credit facility agreement in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Benoit Chassatte, French Development Agency (AFD) Country Director in Dhaka, signed the agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and France respectively.

The credit facility agreement was inked to support urban governance and infrastructure improvement in Bangladesh.

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This concessional loan will help the Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement or UGIIP project, which will be implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), said AFD.

This result-based lending program falls under the broader Government's Municipal Development Plan to strengthen urban governance and institutional capacity.

It also serves to provide capital investment for improved municipal infrastructure and service provision in 88 municipalities.

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Specific objectives of the project are srengthening municipal governance, improvement of revenue collection, capacity building for municipal institutions, risk sensitive planning, women empowerment, concrete infrastructure improvement and slum area support.

Through this project, LGED and AFD hope to reduce urban poverty, improve urban living conditions, support a more inclusive governance and more resilient municipalities.

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