Muhith terms PPP ‘best option’ to attract higher investment
|
"Unless investment is raised from the present level of 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), how we do expect 8 to 10 percent economic growth," he said while addressing the concluding ceremony of a two-day workshop on `Project Identification and Feasibility Study` at a city hotel Friday.
Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) and Bangladesh Bank jointly organized the workshop as part of a two-day capacity-building programme for senior government officials to enable them to effectively kick-start the PPP programme.
A total of 100 government officials were trained during the event. BB governor Atiur Rahman addressed it as special guest.
"For achieving the target of growth, there is a need for creating assets where the PPP models can play an import role," Muhith told the meet.
He said country`s transport sector is in serious problem and PPP could be a good option in developing land-ports, seaports, river-ports and highways.
"PPP is not new to Bangladesh. There was an Independent Power Producer (IPP) project under PPP initiative in 1997," he said.
The finance minister said he is enthusiastic about the PPP concept because there were a lot of success stories of PPP initiatives in India, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Governor Atiur Rahman said PPP initiatives are by now a widely adopted mode of physical infrastructure investments in both developed and developing countries.
"Recent worldwide heightened concerns about sustainability of public debt levels in advanced economies indicate that PPPs are likely to be the dominant mode of infrastructure investments in the coming years everywhere," he added.
Atiur said the development strategies and investment programmes of Bangladesh government already include PPP as a major tool in netting much-needed new infrastructure investments.