Govt foundations pledge over 1cr jobs in five years: Titumir

Government-linked foundations have committed to creating more than one crore employment opportunities over the next five years, with Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) alone pledging one crore, Finance and Planning Adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir said.

"Another foundation had pledged 1,00,000 jobs, while women's development organisations, the Small Farmers Foundation and institutions working on poverty reduction had also submitted large-scale employment plans," he said after a meeting with heads of 22 foundations under different ministries and divisions at the NEC Conference Room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar today (29 August).

"That means the number is more than one crore," he said. "The government did not impose these employment targets; the foundations proposed them voluntarily based on their own capacities."

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) will regularly track implementation of the pledges, with progress data to be published on a dashboard, he said.

The government didn't impose these employment targets; the foundations proposed them voluntarily based on their own capacities. 

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir Finance and Planning Adviser

The meeting also decided to bring the foundations under a cluster-based structure aligned with the government's Five-Year Strategic Framework for Reform and Development, while allowing each institution to continue working under its own mandate.

Titumir said one of the priorities is a nationwide "One Village, One Product" programme aimed at expanding production and employment by using local resources, skills and traditions to develop specialised products in different areas.

The broader five-year strategy, approved by the prime minister under the "Bangladesh First" approach, focuses on recovery, transition and restructuring towards prosperity, he said.

Solar, health and social protection

Another priority is to turn electricity consumers into producers through renewable energy.

Titumir said the government has set a target of generating 5GW of solar power over five years, while the foundations have already committed to contributing 2GW.

More than 300 pending net-metering applications have been settled and around 200MW of solar power has reached the grid over the past six months, he said.

A Tk2,000 crore allocation will support solar projects through Idcol and BIFFL. Producers will contribute 20% of project financing, aggregators such as PKSF partner NGOs another 20%, and the remaining 60% will come through government lending, potentially bringing borrowing costs down to 6-7%, Titumir said.

In health, the government plans to move towards 150-bed upazila facilities from the existing 50-bed capacity.

Titumir said foundations would help train nurses, technicians and other workers for specialised services, including kidney dialysis and coronary care, as disease patterns shift from communicable to lifestyle-related illnesses.

The meeting also decided to move towards a universal life-cycle social protection programme, including registration of persons with disabilities, expansion of services and integration of zakat as an alternative financing source.

Investment and economic reforms

Titumir said Bangladesh Bank has arranged a Tk20,000 crore fund to help reopen closed factories and increase private-sector credit, with discussions under way to raise the amount to Tk37,000 crore.

Agreements have been signed with 40 banks, with disbursement expected to begin in September. The government will support the interest-rate differential to make financing easier for entrepreneurs, he said.

He said stalled economic-zone projects that had failed to begin operations even after eight to 10 years are now targeting production within 18 months.

Five priorities have been identified for investors: a stable tax structure for five years, time-bound approvals through a "trace and track" system, easier access to financing, energy security and seamless connectivity.

Rail and logistics reforms will also seek to address shortages of locomotives and coaches and dual-gauge constraints to reduce freight time and costs, Titumir said.

He also said an independent forensic audit of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, particularly national income accounts, had begun to examine possible inconsistencies in past figures.

The five-year strategy targets raising the revenue-to-GDP ratio to 10% by 2030 and 15% by 2035.

"We have no targets that are not achievable," Titumir said, adding that the government aims to increase productive investment and turn Bangladesh into a regional manufacturing hub.

He said confidence in the economy was returning and domestic and foreign investment had begun to increase, with early signs of change visible in electricity, industry, social protection and poverty reduction.