The government of Bangladesh signed three financing agreements totalling $1.04 billion with the World Bank to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to build resilience to future crises, including vaccination against COVID-19, expand electronic procurement and accelerate economic recovery.
The $500 million additional financings to the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project will help Bangladesh vaccinate about 54 million people against COVID-19. It will help the government procure vaccines; expand storage facilities; and distribute and deploy the vaccines. The project will also continue to provide support to strengthen the national health systems to detect, prevent, and treat COVID-19 cases as well as for preparedness for future health emergencies.
The $500 million Private Investment and Digital Entrepreneurship (PRIDE) Project will promote and attract about $2 billion direct private investments and strengthen social and environmental standards in selected public and private economic zones and software technology parks.
It will develop the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar II in Mirsarai-Feni and establish Dhaka’s first digital entrepreneurship hub in the Janata Software Technology Park and turn it into a green building. By creating more jobs and attracting domestic and foreign private investment, including in the IT and ITES sectors, the project will help the economy to rebound from the impact of COVID-19.
