The ‘Certified Expert on Sustainable Finance’ course has launched on Wednesday in the capital.
A first of its kind in Bangladesh, the international certification course is a collaboration of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) to strengthen the capacity of the bankers and associated key stakeholders on international and national practices on sustainable finance and the role of the financial sector towards a low-emission and more sustainable economyin Bangladesh.
This course is being financed by the bi-lateral project “Improved Coordination of International Climate Finance (ICICF) project”, jointly implemented by Economic Relations Division under the Ministry of Finance and GIZ Bangladesh.
Furthermore, ICICF project is supporting Bangladesh Bank in implementing the Sustainable Finance Policy in the banking sector through capacity development in the financial sector and encouraging climate investments from the private sector.
The launching ceremony was held at the BIBM Auditorium on Wednesday. ERD secretary Sharifa Khan, attended the occasion as the chief guest while Florian Höllen, Head of Development Cooperation of Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dhaka and Ahmed Jamal, Chairman of BIBM Executive Committee & Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank, were present at the event as special guests.
Among others, Dr. Firdaus Ara Hussain, Project Manager of ICICF Project-GIZ Bangladesh; Dr. Shah Md. Ahsan Habib of GIZ Consultant & Professor (Selection Grade), BIBM; and Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Director General of BIBM, were also present along.
ERD secretary Sharifa Khan said at the event, “To address the effects of climate change, the gap between the amount of climate finance required and the availability of funds from the public and private sector is very high”.
She stated that the Government allocates significant funding for addressing climate change from its own financial resources and acknowledged the efforts of Bangladesh Bank in mobilizing sustainable investments from the financial sector, yet more funding is needed from the private sector.
The ERD Secretary emphasized that the financial sector needs the training, tools and methods to understand the investment risks due to climate changebetter. She shared her expectation that this certification program on sustainable finance will help the banks to steer their investments more towards climate and sustainable financing.
Ahmed Jamal reassured the Bangladesh Bank’s full support towards mobilizing more finance for sustainableinvestments and encouraging the bankers and the private sector to makesustainable investmentsstrategies.
Florian Höllen, Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dhaka, highlighted his satisfaction towards ERD and GIZ supporting this excellent institutional arrangement between Frankfurt School, one of the top financial schools of Europe and BIBM, the novelle training institution for banks in Bangladesh.
The Certified Expert in Sustainable Finance (CESF-BF) is a joint certification programme of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) in association with Frankfurt School of Finance and Management of Germany. The programme will consist of two modules - six-month online (with Frankfurt School) and three-month on-campus (with BIBM). 25 bankers have been selected for the first pilot batch and the academic costs are waived through the ICICF Project.
