UNB, Dhaka :
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will lend $350 million to Bangladesh to help public and private institutions scale up skills-training for 1.25 million young workers to equip them to find jobs and meet the changing needs of today’s labor market.
The total cost of the government’s Skills for Employment Investment Program is estimated at $1.07 billion. ADB loans for the program will be released in three tranches as part of a seven-year financing facility, said a press release.
It is expected to be complemented by $200 million in cofinancing from the Government of Bangladesh, $30 million from the Government of Switzerland, $400 million from other development partners, and $90 million from the private sector.
The investment program will support skills training in 15 priority sectors, starting with six sectors: garments and textiles, leather, construction, light engineering, information technology, and shipbuilding. A major target of the program is to boost job placement to around 70 percent, from about 40 percent prevailing now.
The first $100 million tranche of the facility is expected to be signed in the coming weeks with the second expected in mid-2016 and the third in mid-2018.
The first tranche will target 40,000 women and disadvantaged people, including those with disabilities. It will also support 32 public training institutions under three ministries, nine industry associations, microcredit organization Palli-Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), and Bangladesh Bank Small and Medium Enterprise Department.
