Bangladesh to get €477m from EU as agreements signed

Bangladesh is going to get € 477 million as loan and grant as the country signed several agreements with European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission (EC) in Brussels.

Under three agreements signed among Bangladesh, EIB and EC, Bangladesh will get € 407 million as loan and grant to support renewable energy sector of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will get € 70 million more as grant under five agreements --- € 30 million for technical and vocational training, € 10 million each for decent work, e-governance, prevention of gender violence and green construction.

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina along with the EC president Ursula von der Leyen and EIB president Werner Hoyer witnessed the signing of agreements at the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

The first agreement "Bangladesh Renewable Energy Facility" was signed between Bangladesh and the EIB for an EU-guaranteed framework loan of up to € 350 million to support climate action investments in Bangladesh.

The second one was signed between the EIB and the EC of an EU blending grant of € 45 million -- comprising € 6 million of technical assistance to ensure that all sub-projects comply with international market practices and EIB's environmental and social standards, and of €39 million of investment grant -- to bring in concessional lending tools to support the first renewable energy utility scales projects in Bangladesh.

The third agreement "Partnership for Green Energy Transition", signed between Bangladesh and the European Commission costing € 12 million and co-financed by Germany, aims to work on policy, legal framework and investment climate to facilitate an inclusive green energy transition.

Secretary of Economic Relations Division Sharifa Khan, Deputy Managing Director Markus Berndt of the EIB (GLO) and Director General (DG) of International Partnerships of the EC Koen Doens were present at the signing ceremony.