The government is borrowing USD $ 300 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to provide working capital loans to the companies of cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise (CMSMEs) sector. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and AIIB have signed an agreement to implement the loan project through a third party on-lending basis. READ: AIIB to provide greater support for global green recovery, says senior executive The government has taken up a project titled Covid-19 Emergency and Crisis Response Facility to implement the loan project within the 2023-24 fiscal. Bangladesh Bank has already started its activities for the current financial year. Entrepreneurs in the CMSME sector will get this working capital for a period of 1-year with 4 percent interest and 1 percent service charge.

Bangladesh will receive $260 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to implement the Kewatkhali bridge project in Mymensingh. The Economic Relations Division (ERD) signed a deal with the AIIB on Monday in this regard. Fatima Yasmin, secretary of ERD and DJ Pandian, vice-president of Investment Operations (Region 1) of AIIB signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides. Under the project, a 320-metre steel arch bridge, 780-metre approach bridge, 551-metre road overpass, 240-metre railway overpass, 6.20-km highway with four lanes, including slow-moving vehicular traffic (SMVT) lanes and one toll plaza, will be constructed, said a press release. READ: AIIB approves $260 million loan for Mymensingh bridge The loan will be received in AIIB’s standard terms and conditions. The repayment period of the loan is 33.5 years, including a five-year grace period. The payable front end fee is 0.25 per cent and the commitment fee is 0.25 per cent per annum for an undisbursed amount. The Road Transport and Highways Division has taken the project as the capacity of the existing Shambhuganj Bridge over the Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh is inadequate against the huge pressure of vehicles, said the finance ministry. The implementation of the project will reduce the additional traffic congestion on the existing bridge and facilitate road connectivity between several districts in the division and the land ports, EPZs and economic zones of the region, the ministry added. READ: AIIB approves $100 million loan to Bangladesh for COVID-19 response The Department of Roads and Highways will implement the project from July 2021 to June 2025.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a $260 million loan to help Bangladesh construct a strategically important, state-of-the-art bridge in Mymensingh, which would substantially ease congestion in the northern city. Once complete, Kewatkhali Bridge will divert traffic from the busy city centre of Mymensingh. Being part of the Dhaka-Mymensingh-India border corridor project, the bridge will also help boost local and regional connectivity, the investment bank said in a release. Set to be the first arch steel bridge in Bangladesh, Kewatkhali Bridge will make use of the latest advances in technology to improve safety and promote early detection of structural damage, according to AIIB. Read: AIIB approves $100 million loan to Bangladesh for COVID-19 response More than 11 million people in Bangladesh’s northern region will benefit from increased mobility and integration of local and regional markets. The bridge will also shorten the travel time for people and vehicles and contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions. “As in other river delta environments, bridges play a strategic role in Bangladesh’s transport network," said AIIB Senior Investment Operations Specialist Natalia Sanz. "AIIB considers the financing of Kewatkhali Bridge an opportunity to use the latest technology in bridge maintenance and management to improve its structural performance, service life and the safety of the bridge for residents and motorists,” she said. Read Skilled workforce, better infrastructure to help Bangladesh grow faster: Canada The project includes a proposed Bridge Health Monitoring System (BHMS), which, Sanz said, would be used to provide early warnings of structural issues in the main bridge. Data on load and environmental effects, as well as the bridge responses, would be captured in real time and interfaced with a bridge rating system, allowing for more efficient monitoring and will help in formulating systematic approach to periodic inspection, according to AIIB. “By studying the changes observed in bridge conditions over time, engineers can develop models to distinguish the effects of maintenance activity from normal wear and tear," Sanz said. Read:AIIB approves USD 250mn loan for Bangladesh to fight COVID-19 "State-of-the-art work in this area includes deepening our understanding of physical deterioration processes, especially the effect of structural damage on the reliability and performance of structural components,” she added. Training and institutional development of the Roads and Highways Department on the maintenance and operation of an arch steel bridge and on the use of the BHMS is a core component of the project. The AIIB is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow — infrastructure with sustainability being its core. It began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and has since grown to 103 approved members worldwide. Read BD Finance signs MoU with US-based SIG for infrastructure projects 

To help Bangladesh respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a USD100-million loan which will enable the Bangladesh government to ramp up its testing, tracing and treatment capacity and improve the longer-term pandemic preparedness of the country.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a USD 250 million loan for Bangladesh as the country grapples with the fallout of novel coronavirus or COVID-19.   The loan, co-financed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is part of a programme to provide the government of Bangladesh with budget support to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic on the country’s poor and most vulnerable, particularly those affected by job losses in small and medium enterprises and the informal sector, as well as strengthen social safety nets.    The programme also has specific targets to support women in export-oriented industries.   Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus given that it has one of the highest population densities in the world, AIIB said on Thursday.   Nearly 15 percent of households continue to live in poverty, with a high share of households living in informal settlements, and more than 80 percent of the workforce employed in the informal sector, all of which make it difficult and expensive to maintain social distancing measures to contain the spread of the virus, it said.    According to ADB estimates, a serious outbreak would result in job losses ranging from 1.4 to 3.7 million.   “Our support to Bangladesh is part of AIIB’s broader proactive efforts to respond to the needs of our vulnerable members to weather the COVID-19 crisis,” said AIIB Vice President, Investment Operations, D.J. Pandian.   Pandian noted that Bangladesh had in recent years performed exceedingly well with annual growth averaging 7.4 percent over the last five years.  “It’s incumbent on the international community to come together to ensure that the country doesn’t fall behind but continues to make strides in its development efforts.”   While AIIB does not have a regular instrument for policy-based financing, the Bank is extending such financings on an exceptional basis under the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility to support its members on projects co-financed with the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank.   AIIB’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility, created as part of the coordinated international response to counter the COVID-19 crisis, has an initial size of USD5-USD10 billion to support AIIB members’ urgent economic, financial and public health pressures and quick recovery from the crisis.    AIIB is currently reviewing projects from a number of members. Projects being proposed under the facility can be found here. Additional information about the Bangladesh COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Programme can be found here.   AIIB is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia. 

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $170 million to improve Bangladesh’s sanitation infrastructure, according to a press release.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $404 million loan to improve Bangladesh’s intercity travel and cross-border connectivity.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a $200 million loan for Bangladesh to increase access to electricity and improve service efficiency in the capital of Dhaka and the country’s western zone.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will invest 500 million U.S. dollars to support a Chinese green project, its first sovereign-backed financing in China.

Kazakhstan's Zhanatas wind power plant, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, will get loans of 46.7 million U.S. dollars from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).