Today, at the Global Gateway Forum, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, together with Prime Minister Hasina, launched the negotiations on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to expand and develop the relationship between the EU and Bangladesh. On this occasion, the EU, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bangladesh signed agreements worth €400 million for renewable energy projects to contribute to a sustainable green transition of Bangladesh’s power sector and to the achievement of the country’s climate mitigation targets. Five additional cooperation actions, worth €70 million, supporting education, decent work, green construction, e-governance and the prevention of gender-based violence were also launched.
Speaking in Brussels, President Ursula von der Leyen said:
“The EU and Bangladesh have been reliable and trusted partners for 50 years. Now, we are taking this partnership even further, to reap the opportunities of the green transition under Global Gateway. The European Commission, the EIB and Bangladesh will join forces to support renewable energy and tackle climate change. This €400 million investment will make a difference for the people of Bangladesh and its economy”.
Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, said:
“We are confident that this initiative will enable developing countries such as Bangladesh to fight climate change, to address infrastructure gaps, invest in renewable energy, digital innovation, healthcare, education and much more. The Global Gateway is a sign of friendship, of partnership, of trust, of symbiotic interdependence”.
Driving the energy transition
The €400 million announced today between the EU and EIB (€395 million) for renewable energy projects include an EU-guaranteed EIB loan of €350 million, complemented by a blending support package of €45 million that includes technical assistance and an investment grant. In addition, an accompanying Green Energy Transition project worth €12 million which includes €7 million that is co-financed by Germany aims to work on policy, legal framework and investment climate to facilitate an inclusive green energy transition.
Projects will contribute to boost access to energy and rural development throughout Bangladesh, consisting mainly of utility scale solar photovoltaic and onshore wind projects, and potentially associated battery energy storage systems. The operation is expected to contribute to the installation of an estimated 750 MWp of new renewable energy capacity in Bangladesh. The investments are also likely to improve power distribution and decentralisation, eventually increasing national and, potentially regional, connectivity and resilience. As part of the technical assistance, the EU will help to examine project proposals including ways of combining energy production and food production on the same plot of land, solar, hybrid solar/wind, and solar with battery. Solar projects and onshore wind projects will be connected to the national grid under the supervision of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. The Partnership for Green Energy Transition will help create a Bangladeshi legal framework that fosters investment for the inclusive green energy transition and will also improve employment opportunities for female professionals in the energy sector.
At the Global Gateway Forum, an additional €70 million package in cooperation actions were signed between the EU and Bangladesh in support of the education sector (€30 million), to promote the decent work agenda, to scale up green construction, to boost effective digital governance, and to prevent gender-based violence in public spaces in the country (€10 million in each case).
Background
This year marks the 50th anniversary of EU-Bangladesh diplomatic relations. In this time, the EU has been a trusted development, trade and humanitarian partner to Bangladesh. The relations between the EU and Bangladesh have grown from strength to strength over these five decades to become multidimensional, encapsulating political, trade, development, climate change, connectivity and security concerns.
The Global Gateway Forum brings together for the first time an assembly of government representatives from the European Union and across the globe, alongside key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, thought leaders, financial institutions, and international organisations to promote global investment in infrastructure – hard and soft – to deliver on the SDGs and sustainable growth and resilience worldwide.
Global Gateway is the EU’s positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment gap and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.
The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions. Together, we aim to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.
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Quotes
The EU and Bangladesh have been reliable and trusted partners for 50 years. Now, we are taking this partnership even further, to reap the opportunities of the green transition under Global Gateway. The European Commission, the EIB and Bangladesh will join forces to support renewable energy and tackle climate change. This €400 million investment will make a difference for the people of Bangladesh and its economy.
We are confident that this initiative will enable developing countries such as Bangladesh to fight climate change, to address infrastructure gaps, invest in renewable energy, digital innovation, healthcare, education and much more. The Global Gateway is a sign of friendship, of partnership, of trust, of symbiotic interdependence.
With five additional agreements worth €70 million, the EU will continue, in a Team Europe spirit, to support key areas of human development, green transition and inclusive governance in Bangladesh for the years to come.
As the EU Climate Bank, alongside our Global Gateway partners, the EIB is committed to support Bangladesh in transitioning to more sustainable and green energy generation. I’m proud of the first EIB operation for renewable energy projects in Bangladesh that will contribute to meeting the country’s ambitious renewable energy target. This operation shows the EIB’s reinforced commitment to the sustainable development of EU partner countries.
Press statement by EU Commission President von der Leyen with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina ahead of the signature of a Renewable Energy Package and Annual Action Plan 2023
Brussels, 25 October 2023
Dear Prime Minister,
I am very glad to welcome you to Brussels, as we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and the European Union. In all these years, we have built a solid partnership. And now we will take it to the next level. Because in a time of global turbulence, the European Union is glad to be able to count on its long-standing partners, as they can count on us.
So first, we are relaunching negotiations on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. And that is great news. Second, this new chapter in our relationship will be underpinned by new investments under Global Gateway – we just discussed it. We are about to sign two investment packages.
The first one is a Renewable Energy Package – more than EUR 400 million to boost the green transition in your country. That is good for the climate. And that is also good for job creation locally. Global Gateway will invest close to EUR 1 billion in Bangladesh. And we will not stop there. We are working together with the EIB to improve the connectivity in your country – we discussed that, too – from your port infrastructure to railways, and digital infrastructure. There are many great projects that we have in the pipeline.
The second investment package we will sign is our Annual Action Plan for 2023. It is an investment roadmap of EUR 70 million in your public administration, and in employment, in skills and education, and green construction.
So, this new chapter in our partnership is starting off really well.
Thank you very much again for being here in Brussels.