Research on bio-tech stressed to ensure food security

Experts on Thursday emphasized the need for more research into biotechnology, as part of efforts to face challenges related to ensuring food security in the coming years in
   Bangladesh.
   To face these challenges, the country is required to improve the productivity of its agriculture and produce more diverse crops with a greater share for fruits and vegetables. Research into biotechnology can help the country achieve this, they added.
   The experts made the observation at an inception meeting of two projects on ‘Improvement of Grain Legumes Through Transfor-mation’, and ‘Development of Stress Tolerant Peanut Breeding Lines Using Modern Biotechnology’, at Centre of Excellence of Dhaka University.
   The two projects are being funded by the United States Department of Agriculture for the next four years.
   DU vice-chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Professors of DU botany department M Imdadul Hoque and Rakha Hari Sarker, Professor Hans-Jörg Jacobsen of Germany’s Leibniz University, Dr VS Reddy of India, and Dr Kevin McPhee of North Dakota State University in USA, among others, were present at the meeting with Chairman of the Botany Department Prof M Abul Hassan in the chair.
   Addressing the inception meeting as chief guest, Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique said plant biotechnology research with classical tissue culture was initiated at the Department of Botany in the early 1980s, although with hardly any mentionable facilities.
   ‘Plant bio-technology, integrated with classical breeding is on the verge of creating the ‘evergreen revolution’, to solve the world’s tripled demand for food, agricultural commodities and natural products,” he added.
   Appraising the USDA project, he said it will bring substantial improvement in regard to their productivity and will fulfill the nutritional requirements of the country.
   Talking to the news agency, Professor Rakha Hari Sarker, who is one of the project investigators, said the four-year project will help build capacity in the laboratory, develop human resource with the provisions for two PhD degrees, provide training of project personnel in partner institutes’ laboratories, and inter-institutional collaboration both at home and abroad.
   He said the low yield potential of the existing varieties, narrow genetic base, inter-specific incompatibility, susceptibility to disease (especially absence of resistant gene/s) poor germplasm pool and poor response to high inputs, water logging, salinity, and apathy of farmers to cultivate grain legumes are the main factors for low productivity in the country.
   ‘The main objective of this study is to improve the agronomic performance of three pulse crops, such as lentil, chickpea and mung bean, development of agro-bacterium mediated genetic transformation systems for the introduction of desired genes, and generating of pre-breeding lines for these crops with resistance to fungal diseases prevalent in Bangladesh,’ he said.
   Prof Sarker also mentioned that Prof Hans-Jörg Jacobsen, Prof Alan McHughen, Dr VS Reddy and Dr Kevin McPhee are the foreign experts who are partnering the project.
   On the project itself, Prof Sarker said they will develop the stress tolerant breeding lines of peanut that are particularly resistant to fungal diseases using genetic transformation techniques, and try to achieve optimization of genotypes independent in vitro plant regeneration systems in peanut varieties cultivated in Bangladesh.

Source: The Daily New Age, 31 July 2009

Budget shortfall threatens UN’s ability to feed millions worldwide

30 July 2009 – Millions of hungry people around the world will not receive food aid from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) due to a “dangerous and unprecedented” $3 billion budget shortfall this year, the head of the agency has warned.WFP is hoping to reach 108 million people in 74 countries this year with food aid, but it expects to receive only $3.7 billion of the $6.7 billion needed for 2009.

“We are actively cutting $3 billion of our programme – which means a reduction in rations and programmes throughout the world, including those to the world’s most vulnerable people,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran told reporters yesterday in Washington, ahead of meetings at the White House.

In Bangladesh, for example, the agency sought to feed 5 million people this year, but must now cut back to reaching only 1.4 million, with a school feeding programme only feeding 70,000 children out of the original target of 300,000.

Ms. Sheeran welcomed the recent $20 billion pledge to boost global food security made by the so-called Group of Eight (G8) nations, which shows the industrialized world “takes the food security issue seriously.”

But she cautioned that “we must also keep pace with growing emergency needs. The problem is not all about agricultural yields; the challenge is people cannot get access to food – whether because of poor infrastructure or because they can’t afford it.”

The food crisis is still raging in the developing world, where high food prices are exacerbated by the impact of the current financial crisis, WFP said.

Data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that in most developing countries, food prices are higher today than they were one year ago, at the height of the food crisis.

The WFP head was in the United States capital to urge policy-makers to keep urgent hunger needs as a high priority as they find long-term solutions to food security.

She also called for the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) gathering in Pittsburgh, United States, to “take action not only on the financial crisis, but on hunger.”

Source: UN News Centre

Cut emission level by 45pc within 2020: Vulnerable countries urge developed ones

The most vulnerable countries (MVCs) demanded the developed countries to reduce their emission by 45 percent in aggregate against 1990 levels by 2020 and make available fund of $150 billion a year to help protect the victims.

Civil society representatives from the MVCs made the call at a three-day international civil society conference on the rights of the most vulnerable countries in climate negotiations ended at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel here yesterday with a ‘Dhaka Declaration.’

They also demanded that annex 1 Parties (developed nations) must reduce their emission by at least 45 percent in aggregate against 1990 levels by 2020.

They also made a call to all parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach such an agreement at the 15th conference of parties (COP15) in December in Copenhagen so that the global greenhouse gas emissions must peak no later than 2015 as it is a question of survival for people.

At the conference, they also demanded to reduce the global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

“We urge all Parties to the UNFCCC to ensure that an agreement is reached at COP15 to ensure our continued survival,” the Dhaka declaration stated.

“Adapting to climate change is not a choice, it is a necessity,” it added.

Ziaul Hoque Mukta of the Campaign for Sustainable Development in Bangladesh read out the declaration at a press meet held following the conference.

He said of the $150 billion a year requested for developing countries, $50 billion a year should be targeted for adaptation projects in the MVCs and it should not take the form of loans.

Dr Saleemul Huq, senior fellow of UK-based Institute for Environment and Development, said civil society in vulnerable countries have to ensure their own governments struck the best deal in the upcoming climate meet in Copenhagen.

“We need to provide assistance. What is not yet agreed is how much money is involved, figures range from $50 billion to $100 billion,” said Huq.

The conference was jointly organised by the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Oxfam.

Civil society representatives from the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Niger, Tanzania, Samoa, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Philippines attended the conference.

Source: The Daily Star, 30 July 2009

Int’l Climate Change Talks: Appoint permanent negotiators  

Experts urge govt

Staff Correspondent

Experts at a discussion meeting yesterday urged the government to appoint one or two permanent negotiators to lead the country’s delegation to international climate change negotiations.

“The negotiators are usually changed in line with the changeover of political government. So they cannot achieve expected success form their mission. We should bring an end to this culture and appoint permanent negotiators for continuing climate change negotiations,” they added.

The discussion on ‘Revised text for climate change negotiation’ was organised jointly by the Sustainable Development Networking Foundation (SDNF) and the Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) at the National Press Club in the city.

The meeting was organised to exchange views with the cross section of people to revise the text drafted for the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dr Asaduzzaman, secretary of the SDNF, Dr Rezaul Karim, environment specialist, and Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, chairman of FEJB, presented separate keynote papers which focused on global negotiations on climate change, technology transfer and the country’s position at the climate change negotiation.

They said the neighbouring country India has a number of skilled permanent negotiators.

“Our government should also take such steps to create expert and permanent negotiators,” they added.

Addressing the meeting State Minister for Environment and Forest Advocate Mostafizur Rahman said the present government allocated Tk 700 crore in the current fiscal year, and the immediate-past caretaker government allocated Tk 300 crore for short, mid and long-term projects to face the challenges of climate change.

But the fund remained unutilised in absence of any legal framework on how to use it, he added.

Mostafizur said the revised version of Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, and the draft on the utilisation of Climate Change Trust Fund have already been submitted to the cabinet division for approval.

“As a policy maker of the government I will try my best to incorporate all the experts keeping political divide aside to work together for addressing the adverse effects of climate change. Only coordinated efforts can face the challenges of climate change for our survival,” he said.

Terming the Copenhagen conference a milestone in addressing the global climate change, Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, vice chancellor of BRAC University, said, “’We have to build up our capacity to realise our due share from the conference for adaptation as a least developed country.”

He also suggested formation of a separate group of ‘most vulnerable countries (MVC) to raise their voice unitedly at the global forum.

Dr Ainun Nishat, an environment specialist, said to protect its own interest Bangladesh should look for forging unity with other most vulnerable countries (MVC) and take initiative to make the group acceptable to others engaged in the negotiations.

Moderated by FEJB Chairman Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, the meeting was also attended by a number of NGO representatives.

Source: The Daily Star, 30 July 2009

Disasters on rise in coastal areas due to climate change

Speakers tell discussion

Speakers at a discussion yesterday said as the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters has been increasing rapidly in coastal belt due to climate change impacts, the government should take specific steps to protect some 3.48 crore people in the areas.

People living in the coastal belts are becoming more vulnerable day by day, they added.

The speakers said this at the discussion styled ‘Climate change and the steps to protect the coastal people’ jointly organised by Community Development Centre (Codec) and Weekly 2000 at the National Press Club in the city.

The increased frequency of cyclone and tidal wave not only destructs the houses, embankments, streets and resources of around 710 kilometres area, it also hampers the livelihood of the people living there.

Saline water that entered the cultivable land following two cyclone — Sidr and Aila — has increased salinity of the land which will not be able for cultivation even after two to three years, said the local representatives.

They further said that some 140 kinds of fishes are extinct from the Sitakunda estuary in the last few years and the lives of the fishermen are already jeopardised.

A total of 5 unions among 12 of Ramgati upazila have been eroded by the rivers, they said adding that poor maintenance of the embankments, lack of cyclone centres and rehabilitation mechanism for the people of coastal areas made them more vulnerable which should be paid heed by the government.

Furthermore, around 200 ship-breaking yards continue to pollute the environment of coastal belt and leads to increase diseases, they added.

Speaking as the chief guest, Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak said the government has already prepared the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2008 for a long-term and sustainable management of disaster.

The government wants assistance from the donor countries for sustainable management of disaster and for setting up water treatment plant to reduce water salinity, he noted.

Dr Atik Rahman said though Bangladesh is efficient in combating cyclone, it is yet to gain efficiency in combating flood that causes huge loss of lives and properties every year.

Dr Ainun Nishat stressed the need to establish more cyclone centres in coastal areas as due to lack of cyclone centres, some 5000 people are forced to stay in a centre that is prepared for 500 people only.

“The issue of climate change and its negative impacts on Bangladesh should be raised in the international forums seriously,” he added.

Kamal Sen Gupta, deputy executive director of Codec, presented a keynote paper.

Former adviser to a caretaker government Rasheda K Chowdhury, Dhirendra Chandra Devnath MP, Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, Akhter Habib, Dr Hamidul Haque and journalist Abdul Momen also spoke.

Source: The Daily Star, 30 July 2009

No irrigation project in Tipai downstream: Indian officials assure Bangladesh team

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi

India yesterday assured Bangladesh of not building any irrigation project downstream of the Tipaimukh hydro power structure in Manipur.

Indian ministries of power, external affairs and water resources conveyed the message to the parliamentary delegation from Bangladesh in an hour-long interaction at the South Block of the Secretariat Building in New Delhi.

This addresses a key concern of Bangladesh, which has been worried over a possible irrigation project downstream of Tipaimukh Dam on the Borak as it could impact the flow of water in the cross-border river.

The Indian officials, including officials from National Hydro Power Corporation, also assured the visiting delegation, headed by Awami League lawmaker Abdur Razzak, of India being ready to extend all cooperation to protect the interests of the two countries regarding the Tipaimukh power project.

During the meeting with the Indian officials a video presentation was made on the Tipaimukh project. A number of the 10-member Bangladesh parliamentary delegation raised several questions about the project and the Indian officials answered them, sources said.

The lawmakers sought documents and studies conducted by India containing information about various aspects of the Tipaimukh project. The Indian officials said if Bangladesh wanted any document on any specific issue they should send a formal request before this could be processed.

A few Bangladeshi MPs raised the issue of joint inspection of the power project to which the officials said they were not authorised to make a call on this and only appropriate authorities could make such a decision.

Former water resources minister Razzak said the parliamentary team went to India to study the project and take back as much information as possible collected through discussions with Indian officials and ministers.

Indian officials said they were aware of the reservations of Bangladesh and made it clear that New Delhi did not want any bitterness in bilateral relations over the issue.

Yesterday’s interaction with the officials was the centrepiece of Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation’s visit to India because it covered the technical details of the Tipaimukh project, sources said.

Later the delegation called on Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed the issue and the ties between India and Bangladesh.

The delegation would meet Indian Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today before flying to Guwahati on their way to Tipaimukh project site.

The delegation is scheduled to return to New Delhi from Tipaimukh site in the afternoon of July 31 before proceeding to Ajmer to offer fateha at the Dargah of Sufi Khwaja Moinuiddin Chisti.

The delegation is expected to return to New Delhi on August 1 before wrapping up the visit and leave for Dhaka on August 2.

The project, which is expected to generate 1,000 megawatt of electricity, is important for India because it will help usher in development in Manipur, which faces severe power shortage.

Source: The Daily Star, 30 July 2009

India won’t divert water from Tipai: Bangladesh team assured in 2nd day’s talks; site visit today

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi

India yesterday assured Bangladesh that there would be no diversion of water flow due to the Tipaimukh hydropower project on the Barak river in Manipur.

The assurance came during a meeting between Indian Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and the 10-member Bangladesh parliament delegation at the Shram-Shakti Bhawan that houses the Indian power ministry.

India also said no construction work has started at the dam site in Manipur.

During the nearly 45-minute meeting, Indian officials shared with the Bangladeshi lawmakers data regarding water flow in the Barak during all seasons, including the mean water flow and lean season flow, Indian officials said.

They ruled out any diversion of water because of the project and in fact insisted that it will be beneficial for Bangladesh because it will help control the flood downstream and maintain a higher level of water in the Barak during the lean season feeding the Surma and Kushiyara rivers.

This is a significant development against the backdrop of worries in Bangladesh that the possible effects the Tipaimukh project would have on flow of water in the Barak and consequently the Surma and the Kushiyara and the Sylhet region.

The Bangladeshi MPs raised a number of queries regarding the project and articulated their concerns over certain areas, to which the Indian power minister and officials responded.

Emerging from the meeting, delegation and senior Awami League leader Abdur Razzak told reporters that, “India has once again assured us that no irrigation project would be constructed upstream or downstream of the Tipaimukh project.

Referring to his meetings with Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna Wednesday evening and Shinde yesterday morning, Razzak said both the leaders have assured that India would not do anything which would harm the interests of Bangladesh.

“Whatever they [India] do, they will do through discussions with Bangladesh,” he said, adding, “All issues can be resolved through talks.”

The delegation’s yesterday’s meeting with the Indian power minister was also attended by officials of India’s National Hydro Power Corporation, which will execute the Tipaimukh project, and external affairs ministry.

Indian officials said the Bangladeshi parliamentarians yesterday, “appeared satisfied by our replies”.

They said New Delhi has been very transparent by inviting the parliamentary team from Bangladesh and sharing with it the data on the Tipaimukh project and allowing it to visit the project site.

This was done as a “gesture of goodwill” towards the new government in Bangladesh, they said.

India is ready to share more information on specific aspects of the project if Bangladesh wishes, said the officials.

The meeting with the Indian power minister was the high-point of the second day of the five-day visit of the delegation which later left for Guwahati in Assam where they will have a night’s halt before flying to Tipaimukh project this morning.

The Daily Star, 31 July 2009

Climate Change::: Law and Policies

 20.10.2009, Sunday

SAARC nations to set up 50 watch stations: Enhancing cooperation to tackle the climate change impacts, the Saarc countries yesterday decided to set up 50 automatic weather monitoring stations in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to carry out study on weather pattern, especially storms, in the region. More: The Daily Star, 21 October 2009

PM flies to Sweden: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left here for Sweden last night to attend a five-day conference on climate change. An airbus of Qatar Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage took off from the Zia International Airport at 9:40 pm. More: The Daily Star, 21 October 2009

28 July 2009

8pc climate aid to go to WB : The World Bank will take away $8 million from the $98 million climate change fund pledged to Bangladesh so far, suggests a draft concept note of the government.  Of the climate aid, $5 million will go to the global lender as administration fees, and $3 million for project/proposal preparation, appraisal and supervision and analytical work, and capacity building activities related to climate change. The amount will make up more than 8 per cent of the climate fund so far pledged to the country by British and Danish official agencies. More: The Daily New Age, 29 July 2009
   

Bangladesh’s demand: no water withdrawal from Barak : Parliamentary team leaves for Tipaimukh today

Nazrul Islam

The Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation leaving for the site of the proposed Tipaimukh dam on Wednesday will ask India for assurances that it will not withdraw water from the Barak River through any irrigation project.
   The delegation, headed by former water resources minister Abdur Razzak, is also scheduled to visit Lakshmipur (Phulertal) where the Indian authorities have reportedly planned to construct a barrage for irrigation.
   ‘We will ask the Indian authorities not to implement any project that diverts or withdraws water from the Barak River,’ said Razzak, the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the water resources ministry.
   He said the team would also request the Indian government to launch a joint survey on the proposed multi-purpose dam before beginning construction.
   The 10-member delegation, comprising six lawmakers, three officials and only one water expert, will hold talks with Indian officials at the water resources and energy ministries on the first day of its five-day trip.
   The Bangladesh Nationalist Party did not send any of its members with the delegation despite the government’s repeated requests to send at least two of its lawmakers on the trip, which is intended to assess the impact of the proposed dam at Tipaimukh on downstream Bangladesh.
   The BNP pointed out that a parliamentary team cannot understand technical matters and called the trip a ‘picnic’ in its press conference.
   ‘The trip will hardly be of any benefit to the nation so we decided to stay away from it,’ Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, also a former water resources minister, told New Age, adding that a highly qualified team comprising water and environment experts should have accompanied the parliamentary delegation.
   The BNP had sent names of a panel of experts to the prime minister for inclusion in the delegation, but there was no response from the government. ‘It is unfortunate that the prime minister did not even respond to the letter sent by leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia,’ Hafiz said.
   He blamed the Indian authorities for not providing data on the project since Dhaka had asked for it some 29 years ago. ‘We had also asked the Indian side to launch a joint survey on the project. India did not take our concerns into consideration while carrying out the environmental impact assessment.’
   A delegation member, Hamidur Rahman Azad of the Jamaat-e-Islami which is a staunch ally of the BNP, in a letter regretted that he could not go to Tipaimukh on account of his illness.
   Razzak blamed the past BNP regimes for not raising the matter with the Indian authorities during their tenure. ‘We are now trying to resolve the matter through negotiation.’
   Razzak said that they would go to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, on the second day, and on the third day would travel to the project’s site at Tipaimukh in Manipur. ‘We will also go to Phulertal in Kachha district of Assam where, as we have heard, India plans to construct a barrage to divert water from the trans-boundary river for irrigation.’
   He said that as per the minutes of the Joint Rivers Commission’s meetings and also according to a study by Bangladesh on the proposed dam, just a hydro-electric project in Tipaimiukh would not harm Dhaka’s interest.
   The delegation will go back to New Delhi on the fifth day and is scheduled to return the same day. It is also scheduled to call on the Indian external affairs minister, SM Krishna, during its stay.
   The Indian Tipaimukh project came to the fore of Bangladesh-India relations after the Indian foreign secretary came to Dhaka on a surprise visit in April to invite a Bangladeshi team to visit the project’s site. He told the Bangladeshi media at that time that the proposed dam would not harm Bangladesh.
   But Bangladeshi environmentalists and water experts said that if the multi-purpose dam project is implemented, it will cause ecological imbalance in downstream Bangladesh.
   Dhaka has long been asking New Delhi to refrain from constructing the multi-purpose dam at the confluence of the Barak and Tuivai rivers from the day that India solicited international bids in early 2006.
   Environmentalists fear that the dam on the Barak River, which feeds Bangladesh‘s Surma and Kushiyara rivers that eventually combine and become the Meghna, one of the three main rivers in Bangladesh, would cause the drying up of large areas in the north-eastern region.
   India plans to complete the project by 2012.
   Indian environmental pressure groups, especially in Manipur and Assam, have also expressed deep concern over the project, saying it would submerge vast areas in Manipur and Assam, displace many indigenous people and destroy their culture and heritage.
   ‘The dam may cause an endemic socio-economic conflict in north-eastern India as many indigenous people will lose their homes,’ Aram Pamei, co-chairperson of Citizens Concern for Dams and Development of Manipur, told a seminar in Dhaka.
   The long-term consequence of the dam is expected to be more dangerous, she said, adding that the infrastructure development for the project would require the felling of 8,000,000 trees in the hilly terrain, and have other terrible impacts. It will cause the loss of the sustainable eco-friendly life patterns in the entire north-eastern region.
   The proposed Indian dam is 162.8 metres high and will cause the submergence of 311 square kilometres of land in order to generate 1,500 megawatts of electricity. This was revealed at the seminar organised by Centre for Human Rights, Development and Human Security in Dhaka.

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Source: The Daily New Age, 29 July 2009

Stand together to get G20 fund share: Muhith calls upon Asia Pacific countries at workshop on recession

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday called upon the Asia Pacific countries to raise their voice together to claim their share from a G20 fund created to tackle the fallout of global recession.

He also demanded a proper distribution of the $1.1 trillion fund generated by G20 leaders in April this year to help developing countries and stimulate world trade. Of the fund, developing and poor countries will receive only $50 billion.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are likely to manage the fund.

The minister also expressed dissatisfaction at the poor allocation of $50 billion for the underprivileged countries to deal with the financial crisis that originated in the developed countries.

“There is a group of vulnerable countries and what kind of system should be followed to distribute this fund is very important,” Muhith told the inaugural session of a four-day regional workshop on strengthening responses to the global financial crisis in the Asia-Pacific region at Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Bangladesh Bank jointly organised the programme to work out realistic and viable policy suggestions required for the region to weather the ongoing global recession.

Finance ministry and central bank officials of 17 Asia Pacific countries, including China, India, Malaysia, Fiji and Russia, are taking part in the workshop.

Muhith also came down heavily on the global financial regulators — IMF and WB — for their ’sheer failure’ to warn member countries about the recession.

“Early warning system has totally failed. We’ve to think about restructuring the system,” said the minister.

He also urged the participating countries to work together for restructuring the global financial system that he said had failed to give the countries warning before the financial crisis.

The finance minister also felt the necessity to change the global attitude to use resources for trade financing in the wake of the financial meltdown that has affected trade financing badly.

“Reserves could be used for trade financing such as purchase of fuel, fertiliser and food,” Muhith suggested.

Easy access to trade financing is crucial to absorb financial shock, he said.

The minister however said keeping up the domestic demand is vital to absorb the shock following a decline in demand.

“Creating domestic demand is most obvious to mitigate the impacts of the crisis,” he said.

More spending is needed for social and infrastructure development to keep the domestic demand up amid the crisis, he suggested.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman presented a keynote paper at the session chaired by BB Deputy Governor Nazrul Huda. Nagesh Kumar, director of Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of ESCAP, delivered the address of welcome.

Rahman called upon the regional countries to strengthen cooperation in response to the current crisis.

“To grow intra-regional trade is required to reduce dependence on North American and European markets,” he said.

A strong regional bond market can also help channel regional savings into real sectors, he added.

The governor also echoed the finance minister for restructuring the global financial system.

Source: The Daily Star, 28 July 2009

Move away from export-led growth: Experts suggest as regional workshop ends

Asia-Pacific countries should focus more on growth driven by internal resources than on export-led growth, said finance and central bank officials at a high-profile regional workshop that ended yesterday.

The four-day workshop on “Strengthening the Response to the Global Financial Crisis in Asia-Pacific: The Role of Monetary, Fiscal and External Debt Policies” was co-organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Bangladesh Bank (BB) in Dhaka.

The experts also recommended a separate regional currency for Asia-Pacific countries.

At a press briefing, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Raman said they do not want to exclude export-led growth but couple it with an emphasis on internal resources such as agriculture and small and medium enterprises.

“Depending on only external sources would not work anymore. We have to depend on our own resources,” Rahman said. “Issues over a separate currency are still at discussion levels. We have far to go before it can be implemented.”

Rahman stressed faster growth of regional exports and development of regional bond markets.

On the need for deeper regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, the delegates said in a written statement: “Given the need to contain global imbalances, the United States and the European Union are unlikely to continue to act as engines of driving Asia’s export-led economic growth.”

Asian countries need new engines of growth to revive their rapid growth rates, according to the statement.

“An increase in the share of domestic demand in aggregate demand can make up for the expected loss of dynamism in traditional export markets,” it said.

The experts recommended a regional unit of account for intra-regional trade could be created as a way to facilitate the expansion of trade and reduce disruptions to foreign exchange rates.

“Moreover, part of the region’s huge foreign exchange reserves could be allocated to a regional sovereign wealth fund to promote investment activity across the region,” the statement said.

“It could play a role in supplementing national efforts to generate aggregate demand and support poorer countries and countries with less fiscal space, in a sort of regional Keynesianism,” the statement added.

The exports also said the outcome of this workshop will be presented to ESCAP’s member countries at the meeting of the “Committee on Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty and Inclusive Development’ to be held in Bangkok on November 23-26, which will report to the 2010 annual session of the commission.

Dr Aynul Hasan of ESCAP spoke at the press conference while BB Economic Adviser Dr Habibullah Bahar presented the recommendations.

High-level government officials from the finance ministry and the central banks of 17 countries, economists and experts from United Nations Development Programme, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and NGOs attended the workshop.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the workshop on July 27.

Source: The Daily Star, 31 July 2009

Tk 30,000cr river project on cards: Includes measures to minimise climate change impact

The government is going to take up a Tk 30,000-crore mega project to revive the country’s river system that would also address the impact of climate change in the country.

State Minister for Environment and Forest Mostafizur Rahman said this while talking to journalists after delivering a speech at “international civil society conference: the rights of most vulnerable countries in climate negotiations” conference jointly organised by Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) and Oxfam GB.

He said, “Under the project, all the major rivers will be dredged and embankments will be extended.”

At the three-day conference being held at a city hotel, he also said the heights of roads in costal areas will be raised and afforestation would be done in drought-prone areas as part of the mega project.

Participants from Nepal, Cambodia, Samoa, Swaziland, Zambia, the Maldives, Ethiopia, Niger, Vietnam, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Tanzania are at the conference as part of the preparation for negotiations at the 15th conference of parties (COP15) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen to be held in December.

The state minister said the developed countries, which are mostly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, should come forward to ensure the survival of vulnerable countries like Bangladesh by providing due compensations.

“We do hope that the Annex-1 countries would unconditionally contribute to our national fund as compensation and support the process of managing it [fund] through our national mechanisms determined by us,” he said.

He said the government has formed two high-powered committees to prepare climate change strategies and action plan and deal with the national climate change fund.

Chairperson of All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change and Environment and Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury, representative of Vietnam Network for Civil Society and Climate Change Nguyen Huu Ninh, Convener of Campaign Steering Group of CSRL Shirin Akhter and Country Director of Oxfam Heather Blackwell spoke at the conference with Executive Director of Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies Atiq Rahman in the chair.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury said vulnerable countries should come out with a common ground for negotiations with the developed countries.

“Bangladesh has already taken the leadership of the least developed countries in the climate-change field but lots more are needed to be done. The vulnerable countries should work together even for post-Copenhagen situation as far as climate change is concerned,” said Saber.

He said climate change is not only an issue of environment security for Bangladesh but also an issue of national security.

Heather Blackwell said, “We want a fair and safe deal in Copenhagen, particularly for billions of poor and vulnerable people whose governments cannot afford to pay to fix the problem.”

She said the true cost of climate change would not be measured in dollars but in million or billions of lives.

Shirin Akhter said Bangladesh must have a national consensus regarding its stance for negotiation in Copenhagen. It should be discussed and debated in parliament.

Environmentalist Atiq Rahman said about 17 percent of the country’s land and 13 percent of agricultural activities would be affected if there is one metre sea-level rise.

Source: The Daily Star, 28 July 2009

Dhaka eyes $4.68b from Beijing in 28 projects: Assistance to be sought at JEC meeting in China

M Abul Kalam Azad

Bangladesh will seek around US$4.68 billion in assistance from the Chinese government to implement 28 projects in telecommunication, infrastructure, energy, and health sectors at the Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting scheduled to begin in Beijing tomorrow.

During the three-day bilateral talk that will take place after a four-year hiatus, Bangladesh is expected to discuss all projects, and reach an understanding on financial and technical assistance from the Chinese government. A $3.68 billion financial assistance will be sought as grant, soft loan, and supplier’s credit.

Since 1976, China provided Bangladesh with $321 million as grant, $227 million in soft loan, and $978 million as supplier’s credit, official sources said.

Since Dhaka finds the conditions for the supplier’s credit unfavourable, it will request Beijing to relax those.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan will lead a seven-member Bangladesh delegation while Vice-minister Chen Jian will lead a nine-member Chinese delegation to the 12th JEC meeting. The Bangladesh delegation will leave for Beijing today. The last JEC meeting was held in Dhaka in May 2005.

Some of the major projects that Bangladesh will push for, are introduction of 3G telecom network and expansion of 2.5G network at an estimated cost of $211 million, constructions of the Second Padma Bridge at an estimated cost of $579.21 million, Pagla/Keraniganj Water Treatment Plant at a cost of $267 million, North Dhaka (East) Sewerage Treatment Plant and associated sewerage system at a cost of $121 million, and construction of the Second Meghna Bridge on Dhaka-Chittagong highway at an estimated cost of $125.36 million.

Dhaka will formally request Beijing to provide $1.4 billion to implement the Ganges Barrage Project, and $88.12 million for restoration of the flow of Buriganga river and for a project for prevention of river pollution, says the list of projects to be discussed at the talk.

Earlier, Bangladesh requested China to provide $560 million for implementing the North-West Fertiliser Company Limited project. China however proposed a mixed credit scheme for the project, to which Bangladesh responded by urging China in June this year to provide the assistance for Shahjalal Fertiliser Company in Fenchuganj instead.

At the talk in Beijing, once again Bangladesh will request for a financial assistance of $600 million for the much awaited Rooppur Nuclear Power Project. In February 2007, ERD sought the assistance from China, but a response is yet to come.

National ICT infrastructure network for the Bangladesh government phase-2 at an estimated cost of $130 million, construction of a single line metre gauge railway track from Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar via Ramu, and from Ramu to Gundum at an estimated cost of $210 million, a railway bridge with provision of dual gauge double track over the Jamuna river at an estimated cost of $172 million, Karnaphuli tunnel at an estimated cost of $289 million, and construction of Barapukuria 125 megawatt coal fired thermal power station at a cost of 47.4 million are the other projects expected to be discussed.

China already showed interest in construction of five simply equipped rural schools in Bangladesh, and in conducting a feasibility study for Kazirtak Bridge over the Arialkha river. ERD will seek financial assistance for those too.

An inter-ministerial meeting was held on Wednesday at the finance ministry with Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit in the chair to prepare the delegation for the JEC talk.

LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haque, Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain, Post and Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Razu, Power and Energy Adviser Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for Power and Energy Shamsul Haque Tuku, and State Minister for Science and ICT Yafes Osman attended the meeting.

“Since China is an expert in the infrastructure sector, I hope all important projects will be accepted after discussions,” Syed Abul Hossain told The Daily Star after the meeting.

Source: The Daily Star, 25 July 2009

ADB increases annual assistance to $800m

The Asian Development Bank has increased its annual financial assistance package to Bangladesh to $800 million for the next three years, which is 33.34 per cent higher than the amount that the lending agency provided the country during the last three years.
   The ADB provided Bangladesh with $600 million annual assistance during 2006 to 2008, an official announcement of the bank said in Dhaka Thursday.
   The announcement of enhanced assistance came after separate meetings of the visiting ADB president, Haruhiko Kuroda, with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and the finance minister, AMA Abdul Muhith, Thursday.
   Haruhiko arrived in Dhaka Thursday morning on a two-day visit and meet the prime minister and the finance minister where he discussed the bilateral issues, including ADB’s assistance to the country’s development efforts.
   Later in the afternoon, the ADB chief addressed a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital city when he assured the government of continuous assistance.
   Referring to the present government’s development initiatives, he said, ‘The new government’s commitment to continue with critical reforms will benefit the people of Bangladesh, particularly its commitment to scale up infrastructure investment.’
   He said infrastructure was essential for a faster and more inclusive economic growth.
   He also suggested establishing regional cooperation particularly among Bangladesh, India and Nepal to scoop up ultimate benefit in areas of transport and power.
   ‘The three countries can get substantial benefit from regional cooperation in transport and power sector’, he said.
   Without citing Tipaimukh issue, he recommended effective regional efforts to keep climate unhurt and improve environment and observed that such regional cooperation would eventually help the countries in increasing growth and reduce poverty.
   He said the ADB would provide $50 million grant to Bangladesh to integrate climate change dimensions into core development planning.
   The ADB president suggested that the government should take strong measures to improve governance and law and order to attract private investment.
   ‘Unless these aspects are strengthened, they will become obstacles to private investment, both domestic and foreign,’ he said.
   He, however, praised the inclusion of public-private partnership policy in the national budget and said the ADB was keen to assist the government on this agenda.
   Responding to the newsmen, he said Bangladesh had not been affected much by the global recession as the country’s economic activities were less integrated with global economy.
   But he apprehended that some sectors like exports have adverse effect if the downturn continues.
   Citing some recent rally of Asian economies he, however, said that Bangladesh would see similar improvement sometime in the next year should the regional recovery trend accelerates.
   He said Bangladesh would get a share in the ADB’s three billion dollars regional risk management fund. ‘This will allow
   the government to scale up development programmes in response to the [global financial] crisis, particularly infrastructure investment, while strengthening social safety nets to cushion the impacts on the poor and vulnerable’, he said.
   Haruhiko will meet Nobel laureate and micro-finance guru Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Bank today before his departure from Bangladesh.

Source: The Daily New Age, 24 July 2009