Speakers at a webinar have urged the government to set the renewable energy as a priority sector to scale up its use saying that policy support is instrumental for its development.   “There’re huge potentials for renewable energy, especially solar power, for different sectors, including irrigation, and motor vehicle recharging,” said Munawar Misbah Moin, Vice President of Bangladesh Solar and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA).  The BSREA, a platform of private operators in solar and renewable energy business, organised the seminar titled "Energy Access & Resilience of Bangladesh - Potentials and Challenges" with its president Dipal Barua in the chair.   Also read: Policy support instrumental for renewable energy development: Experts The organizers said the seminar was arranged in order to send its outcomes to the "Blue Zone", the window and connector of people to COP26.  Chairman of Bangladesh Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) Mohammad Aladdin and Energypac CEO and director Nurul Aktar also addressed the seminar. BSREA general secretary Data Magfur conducted the event.  Munawar Moin said solar home systems (SHSs) have been the best example of success in renewable energy as it illuminated 6 million homes across the country.  Now solar irrigation, solar chilling systems for rural industry, solar recharging stations for electric vehicles have new potential areas for renewable energy where it could be utilized for climate resiliency, he added.  Also read: G20 leaders to tackle energy prices, other economic woes Nurul Aktar said renewable energy could be imported through cross-border transmission lines. He said a strong policy support is essential for the further growth of the renewable energy sector as Bangladesh will need to generate 16,000 MW of power from this source while the country’s total power generation will reach 40,000 MW by 2030. Dipal Barua said the country is now generating 850 MW power from renewable sources where solar power’s contribution has been the highest.  Mohammad Aladdin said the government is now moving forward to introduce a floating solar system as the country has scarcity of lands.  He said an initiative has been taken to develop wind power plants as well.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday stressed the need for having adequate policy support from the USA government to expand bilateral trade between the two countries. “It’s important that both the countries provide adequate policy support to further expand bilateral trade,” she said while addressing the virtual launching of the US-Bangladesh Business Council in a pre-recorded video message. The Prime Minister mentioned that Bangladesh buys a considerable amount of industrial raw materials and consumer items like cotton, soybean and wheat from the United States.  “All these items enjoy zero tariff in Bangladesh,” she added. Regarding development, she said the United States has remained as a strong partner in Bangladesh’s journey towards democracy and development. “It’s [US] the largest destination of our exports, the largest source of foreign direct investment, a longstanding development partner and an important source of technology and training.” The Prime Minister said while Bangladesh’s dependence on foreign aid has come down substantially, the need for foreign direct investment increased to create jobs for millions of youths.  Also read: Will work together with Bangladesh, global partners against Covid-19 pandemic: Miller

The marginalised and the vulnerable population of the country are still in "dire need of policy support" in view of COVID-19 although the government announced a number of stimulus incentives in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.