The Austrian government is working to provide concessional loans to Bangladesh in health, education and infrastructure as the country concentrates on development of bridges, roads, rail and other mega projects and also exploring full potentials of other areas in Bangladesh.
The information was revealed today at the Bangladesh-Austria Business meeting as part of a four-day visit of Australian business delegation in the city that ended on Thursday, said a press release today. During the meeting, Commercial Counselor of Austrian Embassy at New Delhi Robert Luck said the Austrian companies are very much enthusiastic about the dynamics of Bangladesh and are looking forward to make investment here.
“We are discussing with the Bangladesh government,” Robert said, adding, “Full potentials have not yet been explored, and this fund will be available for Bangladesh.” Robert said Bangladesh’s economic progress is tremendous and the country has been maintaining that for the last couple of years. Austria is trying its best for working together to assist Bangladesh government in building up infrastructures, he added.
He said they are giving emphasis on education and skills development and discussing to find the areas of skills where they can work with Bangladesh. “Skills is a vital issue that needs in every field of development and considering that, investment in skills is equally important,” he mentioned.
“For further development of infrastructure and heading towards higher growth, it also needs to invest in skills,” he categorically mentioned. Welcoming Austrian companies in Dhaka, Chairperson of the Trustee Board of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Abul Kasem Khan said Bangladesh economy, standing at 8 percent plus GDP growth, is looking forward to become larger than Vietnam, South Africa and the Netherlands by 2030 and eyeing to be the 23rd by 2050, riding on its prospects of achieving double digit growth targets.
He said the country remains one of the fastest growing nations in the world and over the last three decades, it has made remarkable progress in many areas, including trade and industry. Focusing Bangladesh’s development activities, he said, Bangladesh requires an estimated US$320b by 2030 for infrastructure development alone, as the country aspires to reach higher growth trajectories.
