Bangladesh and Germany have signed two technical cooperation agreements against two projects in the fields of the Sundarbans Mangroves and in tanneries. The agreements are on the projects titled: “Integrated management of the Sundarbans Mangroves and the Marine Protected Area ‘Swatch of No Ground (SoNG)’ Bangladesh” and “Good Working Conditions in Tanneries (GOTAN)”.
Sharifa Khan, Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Andreas Kuck, country director of GIZ on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bangladesh, signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides, said a press release on Tuesday. The total available fund for the “Integrated management of the Sundarbans Mangroves and the Marine Protected Area ‘Swatch of No Ground (SoNG)’ Bangladesh” is up to 4 million euro for a period of three years ending on July 31, 2025.
The Department of Fisheries (DoF) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change will implement the project. The government has designated the SoNG as the country’s first Marine Protected Area with a surface area of 173,000 ha.
The funding proposal is mainly based on a request for support in the wider ‘Blue Sundarbans’ area received from the government in March 2017. The main project objectives are to improve the coordination mechanisms for the protection and sustainable use of the natural resources of the Swatch of No Ground (SoNG) Marine Protected Area and to strengthen the capacity of BFD in the field of marine protected area management.
The total available fund for the “Good Working Conditions in Tanneries (GOTAN)” project is up to 4 million euro to be completed by April 30, 2025. The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) will implement the project.
Under the project, the institutional framework will be reinforced to foster enhanced compliance with occupational health and safety standards in tanneries in selected regions of Bangladesh.