'Innovative Financing Must to Achieve SDGs in Time'

Member (Senior Secretary) of the General Economics Division of Planning Commission Dr Shamsul Alam on Monday said the innovative financing is required in Bangladesh to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

''Huge money is required to achieve the SDGs in time, so we need innovative financing and more investment in Bangladesh,'' he said while addressing a workshop on ''Implication of the Belt and Road Initiative for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh'' at the BIISS auditorium in the city.

Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) jointly organized the workshop.

Shamsul Alam said the government took many initiatives, including 8th Five-Year Plan, to achieve the SDGs in time. ''We’re setting up 100 economic zones and many ports, and developing infrastructure here. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal did a good job to bring some government institutions in the stock market,'' he said.

''Bangladesh would like to develop its relations with China and Myanmar through BRI. The connectivity among Bangladesh, China and Myanmar will flourish our country’s economy,'' he added.

Lin Yang, Program Officer of UN DESA, New York delivered the presentation titled “Potential Impact of the BRI on SDGs in Selected Asian Economies: Result from the Extended World Economic Forecasting Model” and Dr Mahfuz Kabir, Research Director of BIISS, read out the keynote paper titled “Implication of the BRI for the SDGs in Bangladesh”.

BIISS Chairman M Fazlul Karim presided over the function while it's acting Director-General Colonel Sheikh Masud Ahmed and Project Coordinator of UNDESA Dr Namsuk Kim were also present there.

After the presentation, a discussion by distinguished panelists Dr Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), and Sultana Afroz, Additional Secretary of ERD, put emphasis on the need of BRI.

They noted that the BRI is going to provide a wide range of connectivity, trade and business. So, it is an opportunity for Bangladesh to improve economic connectivity globally and regionally through BRI.

Lt Col (retd) Md Shahadat Hossain said Bangladesh will be benefited by BRI in the future. ''So, we need to resolve all complexities between China and Bangladesh.''

Source: UNB