Joint Statement
by
Mr Suma Chakrabarti, Permanent Secretary,
Department for International Development (DFID), UK
and
Mr Kazuo Kodama, Deputy Director-General,
Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Bangladesh has made substantial economic and social progress over the last decade and is on track to meet several Millennium Development Goals. The UK/DFID and Japan, as the two largest bilateral development partners in Bangladesh, are committed to supporting the Government and the people of Bangladesh to both safeguard and further these achievements.
We discussed with the Government, private sector and civil society the key challenge posed by poor governance, including shared concerns around the levels of corruption and the law and order situation. This severely affects not only people's lives but also trade and investment opportunities for the country. We explored possible new ways of working together in this area under strong country leadership. We will work with the Government to identify specific actions to improve governance and reduce corruption, to assist civil service reform and build public sector capacity.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy will offer an important opportunity to take forward this governance agenda and for all development partners to align our programmes. UK/DFID and Japan will continue to work together in supporting Bangladesh's Poverty Reduction Strategy and further our collaboration in the six sectors:
- private sector development;
- roads and bridges;
- health;
- primary education;
- arsenic mitigation;
- climate change and disaster management.
We agreed with the Government the importance of poverty reduction through economic growth, in particular in ways that will benefit women and children. UK/DFID and Japan will work with the Government to increase Bangladesh's gains from international trade. We will also work actively with the private sector and the Government to improve the investment climate and reduce the costs of doing business in Bangladesh .
Our discussions underlined the importance of developing a new relationship between the Government and development partners that goes beyond that of a traditional donor-recipient government dialogue. We look forward to working with the Government and other development partners in taking this forward.
Dhaka , 13 December 2004
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