WB's new Bangladesh partnership to prioritise job creation

The proposed framework, covering the indicative FY2027-33 period, will prioritise reforms and investments to unlock private sector growth, expand employment opportunities and address structural barriers to job creation, said Jean Pesme, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

In response to queries from BSS, Jean Pesme outlined the World Bank Group's priorities for the forthcoming partnership framework, emphasising that employment generation had become Bangladesh's most urgent development priority.

"We have started preparing the World Bank Group's new strategy for Bangladesh - which is called a Country Partnership Framework. It will guide the engagement of the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) over the next five to seven years," he said.

In the country, Pesme said there is a broad agreement that jobs remain more than ever Bangladesh's most urgent development priority.

"This is a huge but clear challenge: over the last decade, around 14 million young Bangladeshis entered the labor market, while only about 8.7 million jobs were created. Women face even greater barriers to accessing employment. Female labor force participation rate fell from 42.8 percent in 2022 to 38.4 percent in 2024," Pesme said.

"Hence, job creation will be central to our new framework, which will be anchored in Bangladesh's own development priorities as notably articulated in the government's Five-Year Strategic Framework. We are also organizing consultations with a wide range of stakeholders across the country, including the private sector, MSMEs and SMEs, civil society, thinktanks, academia," he told BSS.

The World Bank Country Director said the Washington-based lending agency's current thinking is to focus on tackling underlying issues needed for creating private sector jobs at scale and to exercise stronger selectivity, by concentrating the World Bank Group's support where it can have the greatest impact.

"That means, on the one hand, prioritizing the reforms and investments that can unlock private sector growth and on the other hand, furthering our partnerships with key stakeholders such as civil society and development institutions," he added.

Pesme went on saying, "We look forward to suggestions and insights on how the World Bank Group can support Bangladesh in creating more and better jobs, especially for young people and women."

The World Bank Country Director said the new framework would align the lender's support with Bangladesh's own development priorities, particularly those outlined in the government's Five-Year Strategic Framework.

As part of the preparation process, the World Bank Group has launched a consultation initiative seeking views from a wide range of stakeholders on the country's major development challenges and priorities.

The consultation will involve government agencies, private sector representatives, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs and SMEs), civil society organisations, think tanks, academia, development partners and local communities.

The World Bank has also invited public participation through an online survey available in both English and Bangla.

The consultation seeks stakeholders' views on three key areas: Bangladesh's most important development priorities; where the World Bank Group should focus its financing, knowledge and technical support, including job creation; and what reforms could help generate more and better employment opportunities.

A Country Partnership Framework (CPF) provides a multi-year strategic roadmap for the World Bank Group's engagement with a particular country. It identifies priority areas where the institution's financing, technical expertise, knowledge and partnerships can contribute most effectively to national development goals.

The proposed Bangladesh framework will guide the coordinated engagement of three major institutions of the World Bank Group-the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The emphasis on job creation comes against the backdrop of a significant gap between the number of young people entering Bangladesh's labour market and the number of jobs generated over the past decade.

Talking to BSS on the necessary preparations for formulating the CPF, an ERD official said that the Bangladesh government would definitely like to see the current government's priorities and commitments being manifested in the forthcoming CPF.

The official said once the final draft of the new CPF from the World Bank becomes available, the ERD would analyse it, provide its feedback highlighting the country's position.

In Bangladesh, the World Bank has ongoing support of $11.2 billion in 37 projects.

Meanwhile, the World Bank's financial commitments to Bangladesh stood at US$2.215 billion in 2022, US$2.3 billion in 2023, US$3.376 billion in 2024, US$3.065 billion in 2025 and US$1.62 billion in 2026.

Meanwhile, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said there were no major disagreements between the two sides over fundamental policy issues while they would settle the final details through discussions under a joint action plan.

Khosru said this while briefing journalists on the sidelines of the last annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Bangkok last month.

According to ERD, the World Bank remains Bangladesh's largest multilateral development partner, with its financing supporting a wide range of sectors, including economic and social development, institutional reforms, infrastructure development and energy sector advancement, reports BSS.