Deal signed on Tk 1,000cr Swedish grant

Bangladesh will receive 1.1 billion Swedish kroner, approximately Tk 1,000 crore, under a five-year agreement signed in Dhaka yesterday.
The money will be used in support of Poverty Reduction Strategy and be directed towards the areas of health, primary education, women's rights, democratic governance and urban environment in Bangladesh.
Secretary of the Economic Relations Division M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and Swedish Ambassador Britt Hagstrom signed the agreement on behalf of the respective countries, an official handout said.
The largest share of the cooperation will be channeled to primary health care and primary level education in support of the vision to ensure equitable and qualitative health care and education for all.
"This signals the start of new phase of Swedish cooperation with Bangladesh, a partnership that dates back to 1971," the Swedish envoy said.
“Sweden and the world at large have been much impressed by the progress made by Bangladesh towards many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG),” he added.
The ERD secretary said this agreement would act as a pioneer for overall development of Bangladesh with a view to enhancing its goals for the MDGs.
"Sweden's cooperation and contribution would lead to achieve the levels in our development sectors and future democratic governance of Bangladesh," he added.