Staff Reporter :
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Sunday has said that Bangladesh is one of the five countries achieving sustainable economy.
The minister was speaking at the stone laying ceremony of the Bangladesh NGO Foundation Bhaban, Agargaon in the capital.
He said that the year 2021 is a year written in red letter in our national life for notable three events. Those are the centenary birth celebration of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Golden Jubilee of country’s independence and accomplishment of the final eligibility of country’s LDC graduation.
It is a matter of pride that the NGO Foundation has earnedc its own building in the same year. On account of the farsighted leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has conquered an unprecedented 7.4 percent GDP growth on an average in the last one decade.
He said when the world economy shrunken by three percent, Bangladesh became one of the five countries achieving sustainable economy in the world.
The Minister said, the NGO Foundation has a current balance of Taka 270 crore although it received Taka 162 crore from the government as grant since its inception and thus distributed Taka 159.67 crore among its associate bodies from earnings.
AHM Kamal pointed it as a sign of important successes of the NGO Foundation. He said, the foundation is playing an important role in various poverty alleviation fields, especially in the rural areas by facilitating the helpless and extremely poor people.
The minister said that about 1,120 NGOs were workings in around 7,500 villages during the covid-19 pandemic across the country for improving life style of poor people sanctioning small loan. AHM Kamal hoped that such role of the NGOs will be continued.
Bangladesh NGO Foundation Chairman and former Senior Secretary of the Finance Division Hedayetullah Al Mamun presided over the programme. Finance Division Senior Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, Financial Institutions Division Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah, and Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department Mohammad Shamim Akhter, among others, were present in the event.
The 12-storey building having two underground basements will be constructed at a cost of Taka 38.63 crore. Once the construction of the building is completed, Bangladesh NGO Foundation would get its permanent office which is expected to strengthen further the poverty alleviation activities.
