By: Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor,
Bangladesh Bank
Venue: The Amari Hotel,
House-47,
Road No-41, Gulshan-2,
Dhaka
Date: March 05, 2015
Time: 11.00-13.30
Speech:
Her Excellency Ms. Hanne Fugl Eskjaer,
Honorable Ambassador, Embassy of Denmark, Dhaka; Deputy Head of Mission of
Sweden Embassy, Ms. Karin McDonald; Dr. Mohammad Tamim, Head of the Department
of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering, BUET; Ms. Rajarshi Banerjee,
Country Manager, ABB Bangladesh; Mr. Siddique Zobair, Member, Sustainable and
Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA); Mr. Stephan Skare Enevoldsen,
Danida Senior Advisor; Mr. Shamim Ul Huq, President, NCCI; distinguished guests
of today’s august event, good morning.
Let me first congratulate the Nordic
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in Bangladesh and the Danish
International Development Agency (DANIDA) for establishing much awaited Energy
Efficiency secretariat in Bangladesh reflecting a clear commitment of DANIDA
and NCCI activities towards green transformation and green growth of Bangladesh.
I am aware of Danish focus on green growth as I have been regularly participating
in 3g conferences in Copenhagen.
I am happy to see the environmental activists,
and the financial and real sector corporate engaged with DANIDA and NCCI and
congratulate them for successfully embracing such diverse array of key players
in major dimensions of socially and environmentally responsible business.
At this stage of green banking, we are
well aware that green transformation at large scale is indispensible for
ensuring environmentally sustainable economic growth. No doubt, green financing
is a catalyst for green growth. Taking this into account, Bangladesh Bank (BB)
has been providing a range of policy and financing support to banks and FIs for
mainstreaming green banking into the core banking practices. These endeavors
have been enhanced in last couple of years. A separate department has been established
to address the green issues in a broader manner. Further, we are committed to
implement a full scale IT based paperless banking operation in due course.
47 green products have been included in
the BB refinance scheme of which 23 are green energy. If any bank or FI comes
up with innovative green products that contribute to environmental
conservation, BB will look into the issue to identify the product as a green
one. Banks and financial institutions have been directed to allocate at least 5
percent of their loan portfolio to green finance. Shifting the investment from
fossil-fuel to green energy is the only way for transforming economic growth
paths. Assessment of environmental risks above the threshold limit is a must.
We would like to see a green revolution through a proactive and an effective
engagement between green industry and financial sector for attaining sustained
inclusive growth.
Bangladesh has maintained more than 6%
real GDP growth over the last 10 years, which is poised to increase in the
years ahead. To continue this growth momentum, it has been estimated that
energy consumption should grow at the rate of at least 10%. Bangladesh faces
some challenges such as cross subsidized and subsidized energy prices;
standards and labeling, weak contract enforcement; differential energy (gas and
electricity) prices; inadequate investments in supporting institutional
mechanisms and human resources; high transaction costs from legal, technical
and transactional complexities etc. We see most of the lenders are not familiar
with Energy Efficiency Technology and approaches and require technical support
to appraise and manage loans for Energy Efficiency projects. In this scenario,
we do expect the Energy Efficiency secretariat will look into these challenges
for converting them into opportunities which will indeed give impetus to the
green transformation, green growth of Bangladesh economy.
We are very happy to see both of the
NCCI and the DANIDA to support the green growth of Bangladesh economy by
addressing the priorities in climate change adaptation and mitigation. I look forward
to the best success of enduring liaisons and meaningful cooperation among
diverse participating actors towards further promotion and deepening of
socially responsible business ethos and green business conduct in Bangladesh. I
strongly believe that the Energy Efficient Engagement under CCAMP will
definitely promote energy efficient practices in the business community and the
establishment of green energy secretariat will assist the local industries in
development of green growth strategies.
Distinguished participants, let me now
take the privilege to inaugurate the Energy Efficiency Engagement Event
formally.
Thank you all for your participation
and co-operation.
Exclusive Launch of the Energy Efficiency Engagement Speech
By: Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank Venue: The Amari Hotel, House-47, Road No-41, Gulshan-2, Dhaka Date: March 05, 2015 ...
