The Public Private Partnership Authority, along with Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund (BMDF) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) jointly organized a workshop on 21st November 2016 at the Banquet Hall of Hotel Abakash located in Mohakhali, Dhaka. The objective of the workshop was to share the experience of implementing the PPP Program in Bangladesh. The workshop was chaired by Syed Afsor H. Uddin, CEO of PPP Authority while Syed Hasinur Rahman, Managing Director of Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund (BMDF) was the Chief Guest. Arijit Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of Banking and Financial Institutions Division was also present in the event as Special guest.

Mr. Syed Afsor H. Uddin, CEO of PPP Authority provided an update on the recent PPP activities and achievements in Bangladesh. He accentuated how PPP had been established as one of the key components in supporting the infrastructure of Bangladesh into a middle income country. He highlighted the success in quality building a large PPP pipeline of over 40 projects in different sectors. He particularly highlighted the role of the PPP Authority and PPP progress so far in the country and also emphasized on aligning linked projects to PPPs keeping municipal infrastructure financing in mind.

Mr. Faruque Ahmed, Director General of PPP Authority gave an overview of the PPP concept, law and institutions and highlighted strong presence of legal framework that is one of the essential elements for PPP projects for being implemented with success.

Mr. Md. Abul Bashar, Deputy Manager of the PPP Authority highlighted various PPP processes in Bangladesh with particular focus on PPP Project Proposal form and PPP Technical Assistance form as part of PPP project development.

The final session was conducted by Ashok Odhikary who discussed the technical aspects including the climate change vulnerabilities in municipal infrastructure financing.

The event was concluded after a thoughtful and participative Q&A session discussion on PPP capacity building requirement issues. It was highlighted that need for capacity building and appropriate identification and clustering of relevant government officials would promote overall PPP development effort in Bangladesh.

It can be mentioned here that the primary objectives of Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund (BMDF) are (i) to extend financial support to the City Corporations and Pourashavas (Municipalities) referred to collectively as Urban Local Government Bodies (ULBs) with a view to strengthening their institutional and financial capacity to plan, finance, implement and operate infrastructure services; (ii) to procure, arrange, secure, receive and accept loans, aid, grants, and donations from any lawful source and to create a fund thereof and make available the same for utilization by ULBs; and (iii) to provide and render financial and technical assistance and advice to ULBs seeking to develop infrastructure investment projects on a self-selecting basis.