World Bank approves package to help Bangladesh’s economic recovery

World Bank has recently approved 1.5 billion dollars for Bangladesh’s 3 projects. This approval has been made to improve the quality and quantity of jobs in Bangladesh and to help the country fight back the pandemic.

This investment will also promote private companies to offer better jobs to the people of the country and help the country to bounce back in financial and economic aspects.

The first project called Private Investment and Digital Entrepreneurship (PRIDE) is worth a 500 million dollar and seeks to enhance the social and environmental standards of private companies. This project will create more than 1.5 lakh jobs. Among these jobs, a particular percent of jobs will be reserved only for women.

The project is also looking forward to establishing Dhaka’s first digital entrepreneurship hub that will take place in the Janata Software Technology Park and will help attract $2 billion of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Bangladesh.

The Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project worth $295 million is set to establish an integrated, cloud-computing digital platform for all government agencies and improve cyber-security to deliver critical public services for citizens and business in times of crisis. Around 1 lakh jobs and are expected to be created. 1 lakh youth will be trained in digital technologies and a digital leadership academy will be established. It is meant to prepare small and medium industries to prepare for the fourth industrial revolution.

The $250 million Second Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit will create fiscal space to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Bangladesh is reportedly having a current total of 13 billion dollars coming from the largest IDA program. From the Independence of Bangladesh, in 1971, World Bank has committed over 13 billion dollars to it without any grants, interests, and concessional credits.