A loan agreement of $300 million (OCR-Concessional) has been signed today (28 August) in Dhaka between the Government of Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Sharifa Khan, secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance and Jiangbo Ning, deputy country director, Bangladesh Resident Mission, ADB signed the loan agreement on behalf of the government and the ADB respectively. Concerned senior officials of the Government and ADB were present at the signing ceremony, reads a press release. 

Skills for Industry Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (SICIP) will be implemented from 2024-2029 and the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance will be the executing agency of the programme with support from different relevant agencies. 

The objectives of the programme are to enhance the skill capacity of the labor force by providing technical and ICT based training for creating more employment and elevating existing remittance.

Finance Division will be responsible for fund management and co-ordination of the programme. The programme will support market responsive inclusive skills training in priority sectors. 

ADB is one of the largest multilateral Development Partners of Bangladesh extending assistance to the country since it became a member of ADB in 1973. ADB's total loan to Bangladesh till now is more than $29,664 million and $553.4 million as grant.

The development assistances of ADB mainly focus on Power, Energy, Local Government, Transport, Education, Agriculture, Health, Water Resources, Governance and Financial Sectors of Bangladesh.