The success of girls' education is a matter of pride for Bangladesh, said Praful Patel, WB vice-president for South Asia Region.

Bangladesh is 'one of the very few countries where at least some of the Millennium Development Goals have been met', he added.

The WB official made the comments after visiting Grameen Bank centres and two primary schools in Singair Upazila of Manikganj district with a high-level delegation.

Their visit to Bangladesh was a part of global learning process in the run-up to the conference titled "Scaling up poverty reduction: A global learning process" to be held on May 24-27 in China. Yesterday was the last day of their visit.

The delegation members included James Adams, WB vice-president for Operations Policy and Country Services and Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, secretary of state, Department of State for Education, Gambia. Christine Wallich, WB country director, accompanied them.

Appreciating the activities of NGOs working to empower women, Ndong-Jatta said, "You are blessed to have some innovative individuals. They are doing things unimaginable with women standing beside men as equals."

Both the WB vice-presidents also praised the micro-credit operations of the NGOs, saying that the Grameen Bank, Brac and Bangladesh Rural Development Board are also providing quality education and health services for the rural poor.

Patel said the government has also created a conducive macro-environment and "hands-off" regulatory policy for the NGOs.

However, he said, market forces should always set interest rates, according to economic theory.

Asked if NGO successes were going to shift WB's priority in providing aid to either the government or NGOs for development, Christine Wallich said the World Bank would look for a 'parallel tracks to development.'

The bank believes that the government should continue to provide the safety nets through education and health, while the platform to strengthen NGO activities in the long- and medium-term should also be prioritised, Wallich added.

The country director also welcomed the government decision to review the NGO regulating bill.