Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, met with a high-level delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today at her office in the Bangladesh Secretariat. The delegation was led by Tariq H. Niazi, senior director of the Public Sector Management and Governance Department, ADB Headquarters in the Philippines, and Hoe Yun Jeong, country director of ADB Bangladesh.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an adviser to the Ministry of Water Resources, emphasized at the conference the critical need to protect Bangladesh’s agricultural land from quick and unsustainable conversion, pointing out that the nation is losing about 1% of its cultivable land annually. According to a Ministry press release, she called on ADB to help the government carry out a thorough mapping of agricultural zones and to offer both financial and technical support to promote land-use administration and guarantee food security by 2050.
Additionally, the advisor stressed the significance of rainwater collection as a successful climate adaption strategy, particularly in coastal areas.
She urged ADB to assist in expanding small-scale community water projects into national efforts. The government’s commitment to creating bankable climate-resilient projects, especially under the Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership (BCDP), was reaffirmed by Rizwana Hasan, who also stated that chosen projects will shortly be shared with ADB for more cooperation.
In response, Niazi, the ADB’s senior director, reiterated the organization’s solid collaboration with Bangladesh and stated that it is prepared to offer further financial and technical support for institutional strengthening and climate-resilient development.
In addition to highlighting ADB’s continuous efforts to encourage private sector investment, Country Director Jeong announced that an ADB delegation from the Office of Market Development would travel to Dhaka the following week to investigate potential for resource mobilization.
In order to get noticeable effects on the ground, all sides agreed that pilot projects needed to be implemented more quickly, particularly in the areas of river restoration, water management, and community adaption.
Among those in attendance were Mousumi Pervin, senior climate change officer of ADB Bangladesh; Sandeep Bhattacharya, principal public sector specialist; and Sameer Khatiwada, principal economist.
