Online Report
The World Bank is set to cut $70.54 million from its $500 million loan commitment to the Private Investment and Digital Entrepreneurship (PRIDE) Project, now undergoing restructuring with a proposed two-year extension.
FE
The move follows 4.5 years of sluggish implementation, during which the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) have managed to utilise only 6.46 per cent of the total loan commitment.
The development came to light at a recent meeting of the PRIDE Project Advisory Committee, convened by the Economic Relations Division (ERD), where the project’s financial and physical progress was reviewed, ERD officials confirmed.
Officials said the World Bank approved the loan in June 2020 to support the development of the Mirsarai Economic Zone, renovation of the Janata Software Technology Park (STP) in Karwan Bazar, and establishment of a new STP adjacent to the existing one.
The project originally scheduled to conclude by this year was aimed to attract around $2.0 billion in direct private investment, create around 150,000 jobs, and strengthen social and environmental standards in selected public and private economic zones and software technology parks.
The minutes of the PAC reveal that the total amount disbursed by the World Bank is $68.72 million, while the implementing agencies utilised $32.31 million in five years, only 6.46 per cent of the total commitment.
Officials said BEZA launched the National Special Economic Zone (NSEZ) Development Project at an estimated cost of Tk 39.67 billion, while the BHTPA simultaneously commenced the Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Eco-System (DEIE) Development Project, costing Tk 3.53 billion.
Of the total Tk 47 billion project outlay, around Tk 42.2 billion-accounting for 89.8 per cent-is expected to be financed through the World Bank loan, with the remainder coming from government funds.
According to officials at the meeting, the two projects have made only 9.20 per cent cumulative financial progress to date, including contributions from both external and domestic sources.
Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary of the ERD, expressed serious concerns over the project’s slow progress after 4.5 years and questioned how the remaining 90 per cent of the project activities would be completed within the current timeframe, including the extended period.
The secretary also noted that no construction work had been completed even 18 months after construction began, stressing the urgent need to prepare a detailed “Catch-up Plan” outlining activity-wise implementation schedules to ensure timely completion, according to the meeting minutes.
Mahabul Alam, Assistant Project Director (APD) of the DEIED Project, informed the meeting that roof casting of all four basement levels of the second STP has been completed. He also noted that the contract for the renovation and upgradation of STP-1 was signed in April 2025.
The ERD secretary noted that there had been a prolonged delay in vacating the premises, despite the fact that the tenancy contracts at Park-I had expired much earlier.
Abdullah Al Mahmud Faruk, Project Director of the NSEZD project, informed the meeting that contracts worth Tk 8.10 billion were currently under execution, while works valued at Tk 3.60 billion were at the approval stage. He further noted that contracts worth Tk 9.80 billion were in the evaluation phase, and tenders for an additional Tk 9.57 billion were yet to be floated.
He also said that none of the seven proposed public-private partnership (PPP) packages had been contracted out so far, while three of them had been merged into a single package for implementation.
Additionally, he noted that the planned desalination plant was dropped from the project scope. Instead, authorities have decided to source water from the Meghna River, located approximately 171 kilometres from the Mirsarai Economic Zone.