Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Governors,
President of IFAD, Mr. Båge,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I deem it an honour to address the Thirtieth Session of the Governing Council of IFAD. I convey my delegations deep appreciation to officials and staff of IFAD for the excellent arrangements for this meeting.

The theme of this session “Rural employment and livelihoods” is not only relevant to IFAD’s field work but also very timely, given its critical linkage with poverty eradication. I believe this session would not only allow us to share our experience in dealing with rural poverty but also to focus on the issue of how to further strengthen the role of IFAD in revitalizing rural economies thereby help developing countries achieve MDGs. In this context, I would like to share Bangladesh’s experience in the areas of employment generation and poverty reduction in rural areas.

Mr. Chairperson,

As the overwhelming majority of Bangladesh’s population live in rural areas, our Government has taken a twin-track approach of emphasizing on accelerated growth of agriculture on the one hand and developing rural non-farm sectors on the other. We believe that rapid agricultural growth would immensely contribute to poverty eradication through enhancing rural wages and creating synergies for diversifying the rural economy. Achieving agricultural growth would, however, require various inputs ranging from new technology, extension services and infra-structural facilities to credit for small farmers. Despite various constraints, the government is doing its best by significantly increasing investment in the agriculture and agro-based industry sectors. International support and cooperation are essential in this regard.

Through rapid expansion of non-farm activities we in Bangladesh are attempting to turn it into the leading sector of the rural economy. We are, however, aware that though rural non farm activities have generated new employment opportunities, productivity growth in this sector has been modest. We feel that marketing support along with technological improvement can help achieve more satisfactory performance in this sector.

It is pertinent to mention here that innovative micro-credit programmes being implemented by the government as well as the local NGOs have helped Bangladesh generate employment in the rural areas and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor to a great extent. As IFAD President Mr. Båge has very rightly stated “micro-credit can bring macro results”. The micro-credit approach is now being followed in many countries of the world as an effective tool for alleviation of poverty and empowerment of women.

Mr. Chairman, IFAD is an important partner of Bangladesh in the areas of rural infra-structure, agricultural diversification as well as in marketing support. IFAD funded projects have complemented our efforts in ameliorating the living conditions of the rural poor. In this context, we feel that the supervision mechanism of the projects by IFAD can be made more effective through a more direct monitoring and evaluations system.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I would like to assure that IFAD will always find Bangladesh a willing partner in achieving its laudable mission. I hope that we would all do our best to strengthen the capacity of IFAD so that it can expand its support to our endeavour to improve the living conditions of the teeming millions in rural areas.

I thank you.

Mr. M. Fazlul Karim
Ambassador, Embassy of Bangladesh, Rome, Italy
& Acting Alternate Governor, IFAD
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh