The International Development Association (IDA), a concern of the World Bank, will provide USD $ 120 million for development of 'climate smart agriculture and water management project.’ Bangladesh and the World Bank on Tuesday signed a loan agreement in this regard held at the Economic Relations Division (ERD), a wing of the Ministry of Finance. Read: World Bank keen on investing in rural development: LGRD Minister Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, ERD Dandan Chen, acting country director of the World Bank, Dhaka Office  signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides. The project will be implemented jointly by Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) under Ministry of Water Resources, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) under Ministry of Agriculture and Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. The project is likely to end in June, 2026. Of the total loan amount, $100 million will be provided to BWDB and $ 10 million to the DAE and the DoF each. The WB will provide the loan from IDA19 Scale-Up Window (SUW).The financing will have a maturity of 35 years, including a 5-year grace period, said a handout. The purpose of the loan is to rehabilitate and modernize  Flood Control Drainage (FCD) and Flood Control Drainage Irrigation (FCDI) infrastructure for climate-resilient water resources management. Read:World Bank presents its areas of interest for future projects in Bangladesh Moreover, the project will enhance agricultural productivity and around 50 percent irrigation water will be saved in the crop field through at least 12 climate smart technologies in the project area and increase 20 percent of fish production and productivity by introducing climate smart aquaculture technology. The WB has been providing development assistance to Bangladesh in many important sectors including health & education, energy sector, inland connectivity & logistics, eegional & global integration, urbanization and adaptive delta management sector since after having membership in 1972.

The International Development Association (IDA), a concern of the World Bank, will extend USD $ 295 million Scale Up Facility (SUF) loan to Bangladesh for enhancing digital government & economy (EDGE) projects. The project will be implemented by Bangladesh Computer Council under ICT Division. The implementation period of this project has been fixed from January 01, 2022 to December 31, 2026. Read: Urban plastic consumption triples in 15 years: World Bank The objectives of this project are to improve cyber security, build resiliency during future crises, and will enable the government to operate virtually to deliver critical public services to citizens and businesses. The project will also work to reduce vulnerabilities from the pandemic and prepare for the fourth industrial revolution. The project will also help to digitize small and medium enterprises and strategic industries and to establish a Digital Leadership Academy to create opportunities for research and development. Read: World Bank announces US$ 93 billion support for poor countries A deal in this regard was signed on Sunday. Fatima Yasmin, ERD secretary, and Mercy Miyang Tembon, country director, World Bank, signed the financing agreement on behalf of their respective sides. The loan is to be repaid in 34 years with a grace period of 04 years. The frontend fee is 0.25 per cent, the commitment charge is 0.25 per cent and the interest charge is URIBOR+0.98 per cent. The EURIBOR is short for Euro Interbank Offered Rate.

The World Bank on Friday approved a $191 million credit to Bangladesh to help it strengthen the higher education sector and respond better to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Board of Executive Directors of the lending agency gave the approval to the Higher Education Acceleration Transformation Project. The credit is from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), and has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period. Read: Manufacturing sector’s productivity crucial for Bangladesh to offset Covid impacts: WB The first World Bank supported regional education project in South Asia will support regional collaboration in the higher education sector, including student mobility through equivalence programs, credit transfer schemes, and university twinning arrangements within the region, said a World Bank media release. It will also help more women access to quality higher education, which will result in increased female labor force participation.  The Covid-19 pandemic has hit hard the higher education sector in South Asia, causing more dropouts and fewer enrolments. Female students are likely to be disproportionately impacted, further exacerbating the existing gender gap in higher education. The project will support pandemic and emergency response and build systemic resilience in the higher education sector with a specific focus on digitization. Read:Helping poor in Bangladesh: WB approves $600 mn for 2 projects It will establish a South Asian Higher Education Portal, hosted in Bangladesh, to facilitate the ‘virtual mobility' of students, by allowing students from the registered universities to take courses for credit outside their home country. In addition to Bangladesh, students from other South Asian countries will be able to access the portal. It will also strengthen regional cooperation among the National Research and Education networks (NRENs) and provide expanded access and connectivity for students. The project will upgrade the Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN) and will offer a subsidized connectivity package to students and the participating universities in BdREN. South Asia region has the second-lowest female labour force participation rate globally. To enable more women to access quality higher education, get better jobs, and become leaders, the project will build a network of women’s universities and institutions, which will be initially anchored on the Asian University of Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Read:3 legal luminaries appointed from Bangladesh to WB's arbitration court “For our collective future, higher education is a necessity, not a choice. As Bangladesh aspires to achieve upper middle-income status, the country needs to invest in its youth to create a skilled and globally competitive workforce” said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “This financing will help Bangladesh strengthen quality and relevance of tertiary education particularly for women, as well as ensure business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic.” World Bank Task Team Leader of the project Mokhlesur Rahman said: “The project will help meet the increasing demand for quality higher education in South Asia. Further, it will also help South Asian countries benefit from regional cooperation in higher education and strengthen research and innovations capacities in the universities.”