Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday said it is now time to rebuild Bangladesh, which was turned into a fragile, debt-dependent and import-dependent state during one and a half decades of fascist rule.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have an undeniable role in the process of rebuilding the country, he said.
The Prime Minister was addressing the national conference on ‘Navigating Five-Year Strategic Frame-work for Achieving SDGs: Policy, Partnership and Priority 2026’ at Bangladesh-China Friendship Con-ference Centre in city yesterday.
“Exploitation of the fascist for more than one and a half decades had made Bangladesh into a fragile, which now needs to be rebuilt in every sector, including education, health and the environment,” he said.
General Economics Division (GED) of the Bangladesh Planning Commission and the Governance Inno-vation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister’s Office jointly arranged the conference.
The Prime Minister said the government has taken initiatives to implement a five-year strategic econom-ic plan aimed at ensuring people’s prosperity, aligning the country’s national development plans with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.
Referring to BNP’s people-oriented policies, Tarique Rahman said the party’s plans and programmes had always been designed for the welfare of the people.
“There is very little difference between the development agenda of BNP and MDGs and SDGs of the United Nations. Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman’s 19-point charter and ‘Vision 2030’ of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia perfectly enshrined the UN sponsored vision and mission,” he said.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh had demonstrated its success in implementing the MDGs and was also taking appropriate measures to implement the SDGs.
“You will notice that the SDG principle of ‘No One Left Behind’ is also reflected in the people-oriented policy of the present government,” he said.
“Our government’s policy is ‘Bangladesh for All’ to ensure the interests of people from all walks of life,” he added.
The Prime Minister said the government has a well-planned roadmap to gradually bring every citizen under the social safety net and financial assistance coverage during its current tenure.
Tarique Rahman said three villages—Mitingachhari in Kaptai upazila of Rangamati, Pankhali in Dacope upazila of Khulna and Nafanagar in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur—were selected initially as a pilot project.
He said under the project a range of programs would be implemented simultaneously in the three villag-es, including the Family Card, Health Card, Farmer Card, loans for small and medium enterprises, school uniforms, madrasa-based education, renewable energy, village tourism, ‘One Village, One Prod-uct’, tree plantation, canal excavation and ecotourism.
The impact of these initiatives will also be monitored, he said, adding, “Based on the success of the initi-ative, the government will design plan to expand the model to other villages across the country.
“I hope the SDG Village initiative will emerge as an exemplary project for presenting the current gov-ernment’s election pledge to the world as an internationally recognized development model,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister called upon all to work with firm determination to achieve the Sustainable Devel-opment Goals by 2030.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, State Minister for Planning Zonayed Saki, Planning Division Secretary S M Shakil Akhter and PM’s Adviser for Finance and Planning Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, among others, were present.
