Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on Sunday informed that approximately 1,300 projects are currently pending with the Planning Commission for its approval while many of those are being scrapped due to a lack of projected returns, employment opportunities, or adequate environmental considerations.
While addressing the inaugural ceremony of the second phase of 'Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE)' project at the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Bhaban in Dhaka's Agargaon, he made the remarks. The World Bank and PKSF are jointly implementing the project.
Stressing the need for the democratization of the economy, the Finance Minister said the government is now focusing more on social safety net programmes instead of mega projects to ensure the participation and economic rights of common citizens.
Mentioning strict new benchmarks for project approval, the minister stated, Public money is taxpayers' money. From now on, before taking up any project, its value, return on investment, employment generation capacity, and environmental impact are being given the highest priority.
He warned that approximately 1,300 projects are currently pending with the Planning Commission. Of those many are being scrapped due to a lack of estimated returns, employment opportunities, or adequate environmental considerations.
Highlighting the government's core vision of the democratization of the economy, Khasru emphasized bringing marginalized people into the economic mainstream. To financially empower women and recognize their crucial household role, the government is focusing on 'Family Cards' to deliver cash directly to their hands, which he noted will stimulate local demand and improve living standards. He also mentioned direct support initiatives for farmers.
Expressing deep concern over the country's out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure, which he noted is alarmingly higher than that of Afghanistan, the minister pledged a strong focus on universal and primary healthcare in the upcoming national budget.
Khasru underscored the potential of the creative economy to harness Bangladesh's demographic dividend. He outlined plans to elevate local artisans, weavers, and producers of traditional items like Shital Pati to international platforms like Amazon and Alibaba through skill development, design support, and branding. He also pointed out the untapped potential of the sports, music, and theater sectors to significantly contribute to the national GDP.
Addressing the event, Dr. Gayle H. Martin, Acting Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan at the World Bank, praised the integrated approach of the RAISE project. Noting that 85 per cent of Bangladesh's workforce is employed in the informal sector, she stated that the second phase focuses on enhanced job intermediation to seamlessly connect skilled individuals with the job market.
Addressing the barriers to female workforce participation, Dr. Martin highlighted a unique initiative under the project to train 1,600 women in 'home-based childcare', empowering them to monetize their caregiving skills into viable micro-business models.
The RAISE-2 project aims to provide skill development and financial assistance to another 200,000 youth and micro-entrepreneurs, prioritizing those from climate vulnerable areas, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities. According to a project review, 88 percent of participants from the previous phase, which supported 205,000 youths, were employed within a month, while entrepreneurs witnessed a 45 percent increase in their average monthly income.
