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A new Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) regional hub opened in Dhaka on Sunday will support the bank\u2019s expanding range of projects in Bangladesh.\nThe regional office will also oversee IsDB\u2019s operations in 19 countries, including India, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.
\nBangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the office alongside Dr. Bandar M.H. Hajjar, president of the IsDB Group.
\nThe hub will support projects in Bangladesh in agriculture, education, energy, industry and mining, transport, water, sanitation and urban services.
\nThe IsDB operates in 57 countries, with Bangladesh the largest beneficiary \u2014 the group\u2019s financing to the country has totaled more than $21.7 billion.
\nSpeaking at the opening, Al-Hajjar said: \u201cThe IsDB has long had a close relationship with Bangladesh. Our Dhaka regional office will focus on partnering with local stakeholders to drive socioeconomic development in the country and provide a platform for Bangladeshi people to build a prosperous future.\u201d
\nDescribing Bangladesh as a \u201cshining beacon\u201d among member states, Al-Hajjar said that \u201cwomen have played a vital role in the country\u2019s socioeconomic development.
\n\u201cBangladesh ranked first among South Asian countries in the gender gap index in 2017 and has consistently done well over the years in this metric,\u201d he said.
\nTo implement the \u201cPresident Five-Year Program\u201d (P5P), IsDB has adopted new initiatives focusing on \u201cdelivery and adoption of a more dynamic, proactive and result-oriented approach.\u201d
\nAl-Hajjar said: \u201cDecentralization is one if the key elements of P5P with the aim of increasing bank\u2019s footprints across member countries. These decentralized offices will work together with the host governments to develop and implement important and high impact projects that have the highest socioeconomic impact in the country.\u201d
\nSpeaking at the inaugural ceremony, Prime Minister Hasina urged the international community to put pressure on Myanmar to repatriate more than 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled the persecution in Rakhine state.
\n\u201cBangladesh and Myanmar have signed agreements for the safe and permanent repatriation of the displaced Myanmar nationals. I urge the international community to continue to pressure Myanmar to implement the agreements,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re giving shelter and food to the Rohingyas on humanitarian ground. Now we want them to go back to their own land.\u201d
\nPraising IsDB\u2019s role as a development partner, Hasina said: \u201cThe establishment of the new office in Dhaka is a joint step forward in strengthening the partnership between Bangladesh and IsDB.\u201d
\nBangladesh\u2019s Finance Minister, A.M.A Muhith, and Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam also spoke at the ceremony.<\/p>\n