EIB, Luxembourg & Bangladesh Join Forces to Combat COVID-19

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the Luxembourg-based bank of the European Union (EU), has announced that it will provide €250 million to Bangladesh via "EIB Global" to support procurement of safe and effective vaccines and country-wide immunisation against COVID-19.

The financing is aimed at helping Bangladesh to mitigate the health effects of the coronavirus pandemic and enable the country to strengthen its healthcare system and protect its people from COVID-19 with effective vaccines. Vaccination efforts will also include Rohingya refugees from Myanmar currently hosted in Bangladesh.

Luxembourg has supported the development of Bangladesh's health system for several years by financing the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Friendship, which operates medical stations across the country and supports Bangladesh in its vaccination campaign. Friendship is particularly engaged in the Jamuna / Brahmaputra river area in the north of Bangladesh and in the costal belt in the south. The organisation promotes vaccination through an information and awareness campaign and provides logistical support in its roll-out, such as the registration of patients and the assistance in their transportation to vaccination centres.

EIB President Werner Hoyer commented: "We very much welcome this partnership and the real impact it's having on people's lives. This is the perfect example of partnerships that EIB Global is increasingly promoting around the world to make a difference where is most needed. Working with other EU organisations, countries and partners as part of Team Europe increases our impact on the ground especially when it comes to global challenges like the COVID pandemic, climate change or food security".

Vice-President Christian Kettel Thomsen, who is responsible for operations in South Asia, added: "We are proud of the role and contribution of the EIB, the European Union, Luxembourg and Bangladesh towards ensuring friendship, cooperation and sustainable development remain our reality. Investing in the health sector and in COVID-19 related projects has been a crucial part of EIB's support to combat the crisis, both inside and outside the EU".

Mahbub Hassan Saleh, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the EU, said: "The EIB's loan to the Government of Bangladesh for procuring COVID-19 vaccines is the biggest and most significant development in the 22-year long journey of the Bangladesh-EIB partnership. The footprint of the EIB in Bangladesh is becoming larger and expanding into new areas, which would continue in the days ahead and contribute to greater socioeconomic development in the country. Climate change, infrastructure and renewable energy are some key areas of importance to Bangladesh and the European Union, where the EIB's involvement can be robust in the coming days".

"The Luxembourg Development Cooperation has been supporting NGOs active in Bangladesh for years and can look back on a particularly good and successful cooperation", explained Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. "The importance of strengthening and stabilising health systems, and doing so on a global scale, was made particularly clear to all of us by the COVID-19 pandemic. Luxembourg will therefore continue its engagement, together with civil society, bilateral and multilateral partners, in supporting the most vulnerable, in Bangladesh and in its other partner countries".

Friendship Bangladesh Founder and Executive Director Runa Khan added: "With our programmes and actions in Bangladesh throughout the last two years, and with the support of the Government of Bangladesh, the Government of Luxembourg and our partners and friends throughout Europe, we are able to support  the people of Bangladesh in the field and on the ground and share the faith and hope with them that our actions will make a difference to the lives of the people we serve".

Friendship Luxembourg Chairman Marc Elvinger concluded: "We are impressed by the overall vaccination rate that Bangladesh achieved within a relatively limited period of time. With the support of Luxembourg's Government and citizens, Friendship is able to contribute to ensuring effective access of people in rural areas of Bangladesh to vaccination and achieve vaccination rates in remote communities that are aligned with those of the rest of the country".