According to Philippe Orliange, executive director of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France is eager to meet Bangladesh’s financing needs by offering AFD concessional loans for green investments and by assisting the government in addressing climate-related issues. France has experience and expertise in addressing climate change issues.
He told UNB in an exclusive interview that despite facing unprecedented environmental and climate change issues, Bangladesh’s government is seeking massive capital investments in light of the country’s upgrade from least developed country (LDC) status and its “rapid” economic growth.
Orliange acknowledged the expanding cooperation between AFD and Bangladesh over the previous ten years during his recent two-day visit, the highest-level AFD assignment to date.
The Bangladesh visit of the executive director was arranged by the French Embassy in Dhaka and the AFD office there in light of the country’s size, which is important for a development partner.
The portfolio of Bangladesh is approximately 1.4 billion euros, according to Orliange, who met on the same day with the finance and ERD ministers of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and the governor of the Bangladesh Bank.
Over the past three years, AFD’s funding in Bangladesh has almost quadrupled (a total of 1.4 billion euro has been committed since 2012).
“We signed with the government loans and grants for 543M€ in the last 2 years (2021 and 2022). It was agreed with the government that AFD would commit to around 300M€ annually in the coming years,” Orliange said.
In the particular context of the Indo-Pacific, public development banks and development financial institutions play a critical role in delivering sustainable and high-quality projects that take into consideration the needs of partner countries and ensure long-lasting benefits for local communities.
It is imperative to acknowledge that among the problems the Indo-Pacific is dealing with, sustainability is just as urgent and strategic as the security agenda, according to Orliange.
In response to a query, Philippe stated that AFD has undoubtedly started the due diligence process for a Blue Economy project to increase the study capacity of the Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute (BORI) by purchasing a cutting-edge oceanographic research vessel.
According to him, the goal is to assist BORI with physical and chemical oceanographic campaigns, underwater mapping, geological sampling, marine biology, or the evaluation of fisheries resources.
In order to support the Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) in strengthening its distribution grid through expansion and renovation as well as the pilot deployment of smart-grid technology, AFD is presently working with the European Union.
Proparco has a growing portfolio in the textile and energy sectors and is involved in Bangladesh (135 million USD committed over 7 projects since 2013). The regional headquarters in Delhi oversees Proparco’s operations, and frequent trips and missions are made to observe the development on the ground.
Through public financial institutions, AFD provides financing to the private sector and various sectors.
