PPP to help mobilise investment: Atiur

The public private partnership (PPP) projects can be a major avenue for mobilising the massive investment the country needs to develop infrastructure, said Bangladesh Bank Governor yesterday.
"It's well recognised that deficiencies in physical infrastructure are major growth constraints in Bangladesh and other developing economies," Atiur Rahman said at a workshop at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.
The workshop titled "Challenges and Prospect of PPP Project Development" was organised by the World Bank-supported Infrastructure Project Financing Facility (IPFF) at Bangladesh Bank in collaboration with the Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Centre.
Rahman said the government's annual budgets and perspective, five-year and annual development plans appropriately emphasise PPP projects in development of physical infrastructure.
He said the IPFF is active as a long-term financing window for infrastructure projects through a number of participating financial institutions
Besides financing, the IPFF also provides technical assistance necessary for project identification, feasibility study and implementation of infrastructure projects, the central bank boss said.
He said the workshop participants will not just listen passively to the presentations of the resource persons; instead engage interactively with them, sharing their own diverse experiences with the diverse PPP projects at different stages of implementation that they are involved in.
The problems brought up and the solution options coming out in such interactive dialogues will benefit and enrich both the participants and the resource persons, he said.
Principal Secretary Sheikh M Wahid-Uz Zaman also attended the workshop as the chief guest.