The government of the Netherlands will provide 49.845 million Euro (equivalent to Tk 522.86 crore) as grant aid to Bangladesh to improve socio-economic conditions of some 5.65 million rural people of the country.
An agreement to this end will be signed on Wednesday for the 'Programme for integrated sustainable economic development by improving the water and productive sectors in selected polders' at the NEC-II at the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Dutch ambassador to Dhaka GS de Jong will sign the financing agreement on behalf of the respective governments, said an official at the ERD.
Of the total grant amount, 15.750 million Euro will be implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board while 0.995 million Euro by the Department of Agriculture and the rest 33.1 million Euro will be implemented by an independent organisation as Technical Assistant (TA).
Activities related to Department of Cooperatives, Department of Fisheries and Department of Livestock will be included in the TA part. The duration of the programme will be six years from the date of signing the administrative arrangement.
The ERD official said the programme has been undertaken as a follow-up of a earlier completed project titled 'Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management (IPSWAM)', aiming to reduce poverty by enhancing the livelihood and socio-economic conditions of the people lived in 24 selected polders of the district of Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali and Barguna.
Source :: The New Nation
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