Chinese investors are keen to park their funds in Bangladesh's power sector as there is a huge room for investment, said a top diplomat.

 

“The Chinese government, financial institutions and the companies are quite interested to provide support in the power sector of Bangladesh,” said Li Guangjun, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of China in Bangladesh.

 

Li's comments came while addressing a workshop styled 'Bangladesh power development and cooperation between China and Bangladesh', organised by the Chinese embassy at the capital's The Westin hotel yesterday.

 

Recently, 21 power sector experts of Bangladesh were provided 20 days of training in China, he said, while expressing hope that they would be able to utilise the lessons learnt in their professional lives. China has also changed its financing policy: a separate organisation like the Japan International Cooperation Agency and US Aid has been formed to deal with the financing issue. Called the China Aid, the body will deal the government-to-government financing. Financing though will depend on the satisfaction of the Exim Bank of China over project proposal.

 

There are two ways to receive funds from China -- preferential buyer's credit and government concessional loan for power plant establishment, Li added.

 

As per the power sector master plan, Bangladesh needs $9 billion investment every year until 2041, said Rahmat Ullah Mohammad Dastagir, additional secretary of the power division.

 

The government has set a target to increase power generation to 60,000 megawatt (MW) by 2041, 40,000 MW by 2030 and 24,000 MW by 2021.

 

In total, $150 billion of investment would be needed until 2041, meaning there are ample financing opportunities for China in Bangladesh's power sector, he said.

 

There is scope for independent power producers and the government has created a favourable investment environment on this front, Dastagir added.

 

Mohammad Alauddin, joint secretary of the power division, emphasised on renewable energy as it is environment-friendly.

 

Independent power producers hold great investment opportunities as the government has a target to generate 10 percent of the total power from renewable energy sources, he added.

 

Tahmina Rahman Chowdhury, Deputy Secretary of the power division, and Liu Yue, First Secretary of the Embassy of China, also spoke.

 

 

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