Message from the Honourable

Finance Minister

FINANCE MINISTER

Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

One of the priorities of our government is rapid economic development and for that we need to dramatically improve the infrastructure of the country. Improvements in transport, power, health and education will significantly improve the economy and enhance the quality of life for all of our citizens.

This Government is committed to significantly increasing the budget for such improvements over the next few years. But public sector alone cannot develop infrastructure sufficiently and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) provides the only viable solution.

Utilizing PPP, we are able to leverage our public budget by harnessing private sector finance provided by our private partners, both domestic and foreign, to deliver significantly enhanced public infrastructure and services.

I am pleased to say that Bangladesh is, after nearly five years of preparation, fast becoming recognized internationally as one of the leading countries in the field of PPP. Over the last few years the PPP Authority has put the legal, institutional and regulatory framework in place to ensure that, during the next years, our ministries and agencies will be starting to deliver their projects that are currently part of the PPP pipeline.

As the project pipeline grows, and the current pilot projects are successfully delivered, our PPP programme will continue to be refined and our capacity for implementation will continue to mature. We will therefore be able to deliver increasing numbers of infrastructure projects in all sectors through PPP.

I therefore look forward to seeing the people of Bangladesh increasingly benefitting, both economically and socially, from the PPP programme as we increasingly utilize private sector innovation, expertise and finance to accelerate the already fast developing economy of this great nation of ours.

Joy Bangla Joy Bangabandhu

Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP