WB to invest $2b in BD for tackling climate change

The World Bank president has announced a major investment to help Bangladesh adapt to climate change. Jim Yong Kim, at a press briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday, said the bank would invest $2 billion in the next three years for climate change projects.

This is his second investment announcement to Bangladesh during the two-day visit.

A South Korean-American physician and anthropologist, Kim is the 12th president of the World Bank, and the first without a formal background in finance or banking.

He arrived in Dhaka on Sunday to see firsthand Bangladesh’s success stories in ending poverty.

This visit is also seen by many including officials of the WB as smoothing out strained relations with Bangladesh over Padma Bridge financing.

He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Finance Minister AMA Muhith and spoke at the joint World Poverty Eradication day observance with the Bangladesh government. He also visited southern Barisal district to see World Bank funded projects.

On Monday, he lauded Bangladesh’s “extraordinary accomplishment” in reducing poverty, and said this “impressive” record of economic growth and investments in people occurred despite many challenges, according to a news agency.