At a National Dissemination Seminar on the Integrated Growth Network Development (IGND) initiative held at Radisson Blu Hotel Chattogram Bay View, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury underscored the necessity of private sector participation for the successful execution of the $5 billion project.
Chowdhury highlighted that the private sector will be responsible for $4 billion of the total project cost. He stressed that without private sector ownership of this substantial component, the initiative is unlikely to succeed. 'The whole project is worth $5 billion, of which $4 billion will be undertaken by the private sector. If the private sector does not take ownership of this $4 billion component and it is treated merely as a government project, the project won't be successful,' he stated.
The seminar, organized by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance, was aimed at encouraging private sector investment in the IGND initiative. The minister emphasized that the project is fundamentally about private sector development and economic growth. 'The private sector must come on board. The whole project is all about private-sector development and the economy,' he added.
Amir Khasru also mentioned the government's plans to establish a free trade zone on 10,000 acres of land, inviting Chinese, Korean, and Japanese investors to set up zones there. Yingming Yang, Vice-President (South, Central and West Asia) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), announced ADB's intention to support the IGND initiative with up to $5 billion over the next five years.
Yang revealed that ADB's support was conveyed during the ADB President's visit to Bangladesh in May, when the IGND report was presented to the Prime Minister. The seminar featured speeches from various officials, including Tanvir Ghani, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Investment and Capital Market Affairs, ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, and ERD Joint Secretary Mustafa Murshed, who presented on the IGND initiative.
The IGND initiative seeks to foster integrated and sustainable economic growth by enhancing connectivity, infrastructure, trade, investment, and private sector development.





























