GIZ to provide €22.17m for tech cooperation

GIZ, a German development agency, will provide Bangladesh with 22.17 million euros for technical cooperation in five areas.

The areas are Higher Education and Leadership Development for Sustainable Textiles (HELD), Skills Development for Sustainable Energy Solutions (Skills4SE), Skills for self-monitoring and Compliance with Clean and Fair Production in the textile industry in Bangladesh (SCAIP), Digital Skills to Succeed in Asia (DS2S), and Energising Development (EnDev).

Five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed between the government and GIZ to this end at the premises of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area yesterday.

Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, secretary of the ERD, and Andreas Kuck, country director of GIZ, signed the MoUs on behalf of their respective parties.

The GIZ will provide EUR 7,780,000 for the HELD initiative.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) will implement the project to strengthen the application-oriented competencies of future specialists and managers of the textile industry in sustainable corporate management.

The German development agency will provide EUR 5,000,000 for the Skills4SE project, which aims to enhance the technical and vocational education opportunities for the sustainable energy sector in line with current and future market requirements.

Meanwhile, it will give EUR 7,000,000 for the SCAIP project seeking to improve the monitoring of safety, labour and environmental standards in the textile and garment industry of Bangladesh by the Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC).

The GIZ will also provide EUR 382,526 for the DS2S, which is a regional project running from 2023 to 2025 with the aim of enhancing the capacities of higher education institutions and fostering sustainable implementation of improved study programmes.

Besides, the German development agency will provide EUR 2,000,000 for EnDev, which supports the provision of efficient and clean cooking as well as productive use of solar energy.