Implement projects on time for better outcome
Bangladesh should implement development projects on time to ensure better outcome and avoid cost overrun, Asian Development Bank's Country Director Manmohan Parkash opined yesterday.
“While significant resources are allocated, it is important that projects are implemented expeditiously and completed on time so that people can benefit early and fully from the project outcomes,” he said.
The chief of the Bangladesh resident mission of the Manila-based donor spoke while addressing the opening session of a regional capacity-building programme on successful project design and implementation, organised by ADB at Hotel Le Méridien in Dhaka.
At the event, MA Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, asked the project implementing agencies to ensure quality use of ADB's funds so that the loans do not become a burden for the next generation.
“You have to be sincere to use the funds of the development partners for better outcome. You have to keep in mind that we have to repay these loans which we are borrowing to meet the demand.”
ADB's ongoing active portfolio in Bangladesh comprises 53 projects amounting to $9.4 billion, and 27 technical assistance projects amounting to $23.8 million. Approvals increased from $893 million in 2014 to $1.38 billion in 2017.
In 2018, the ADB has approved more than $1.1 billion worth of loans for Bangladesh, including $500 million for Rupsha Power Plant in Khulna, $360 million for a railway rolling stock project, and $225 million for a secondary education project, according to Parkash.
Under its Strategy 2030, the ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, he said.
The ADB will go for modernisation of its business processes by taking advantage of available technologies, he said.
Rehan Kausar, director of the portfolio management division at the ADB, said in Bangladesh, the bank focuses on six sectors: energy, transport, water and urban/municipal infrastructure and services, education, finance, and agriculture, natural resources, and rural development.
About 70 ministry officials and government project staff from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka as well as ADB staff are participating in the event structured around ADB's project cycle.
Reflecting the recent corporate reforms in the ADB, the event will promote deeper understanding about the bank's processes and procedures, sharing of practical experiences and insights, and discussion of new ideas in overcoming development challenges, said Parkash.
Kazi Shofiqul Azam, secretary of the Economic Relations Division, also spoke.
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