Mr. Md. Kamal Hossain, Joint Secretary, Local Government Department, and Project Director, PRABRIDDHI, Dewan Kamal Ahmed, President, Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) and mayor, Nilphamari municipality, Mujibur Rahman, mayor, Cox’s Bazar municipality, Dr. Md. Sarwar Bari, Director General, Monitoring Inspection and Evaluation Wing, LGD, Md. Shahidul Islam, Joint Secretary, Urban Development Wing, LGD, Mujibul Hasan, Country Director, Swisscontact Bangladesh, delivered their valuable remarks during the inaugural session. Markus Ehmann, Team leader, PRABRIDDHI, presented the LED model the project is implementing.
The 3-day long workshop consisted of group discussions, exercises, and presentations. Issues such as economic development at the municipal level, the role of local stakeholders, and effective linkages between the public and private sectors were discussed.
Special Guest Miss Corinne Henchoz Pignani, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, shed light on the diplomatic relation between Switzerland and Bangladesh that has reached the 50 years milestone. She added, how both the nations share the joint commitments - localisation of SDGs and applying the LED model. She highlighted on how the LED model will help Bangladesh to reach the milestone - graduation from the “Least Developed Country” status in the year 2026.
The participants included representatives of partner municipalities, local private sectors, and relevant national level organisations. At the end of the workshop, the participants expressed willingness to advocate for the wider replication of the LED model.
PRABRIDDHI is a Local Economic Development project, funded by the Governments of Switzerland and Bangladesh and implemented by Swisscontact and Local Government Division.