AIIB considers financing 4 more Bangladesh infrastructure projects

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-15 20:40:48|Editor: Wu Qin

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DHAKA, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is considering financing four more projects for contributing further to Bangladesh's infrastructure development, a top AIIB official said.

The projects are "Dhaka and Western Zone Transmission Grid Expansion Project", "Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project", "Mymensingh Kewatkhali Bridge Project" and "Sylhet to Tamabil Road Upgradation Project", national news agency BSS reported.

The multi-donor bank has already approved five projects for Bangladesh amounting to 505 million U.S. dollars for developing infrastructures.

The projects are "Distribution System Upgrade and Expansion" with a cost of 165.0 million U.S. dollars, "Natural Gas Infrastructure and Efficiency Improvement" with a cost of 60.0 million U.S. dollars , "Power System Upgrade and Expansion Project" with a cost of 120.0 million U.S. dollars , "Bangladesh Municipal Water Supply and Sanitation Project" with a cost of 100.0 million U.S. dollars and Bangladesh Bhola IPP with a cost of 60.0 million U.S. dollars .

In an email interview, AIIB Vice President Joachim von Amsberg told the official news agency of Bangladesh that AIIB is open to considering more infrastructure projects from Bangladesh that are aligned with their mandate, thematic priorities and sector strategies.

"AIIB is very positive on Bangladesh. It is an economy that looks set to sustain moderately high growth rates, providing the policy efforts continue. Secondly, there will be opportunities in infrastructure and productive sectors for AIIB to work with and contribute towards Bangladesh's development," he said.

The AIIB vice president also informed that AIIB has approved around 3.0 million U.S. dollars grants under the "AIIB Special Fund (SF) for Project Preparation" to prepare two transport sector projects in Bangladesh.

"AIIB approved 813,000 U.S. dollars for preparing the 'Sylhet to Tamabil Road Upgradation Project' while 2.16 million U.S. dollars for the Mymensingh Kweatkhali Bridge Project," he added.

He said special fund for project preparation is important in the sense that many of AIIB members, especially low-income members, face significant capacity lags in preparing bankable infrastructure projects.