H.E. Mr. Vikram K Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh paid a courtesy call to the Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) on 16 November 2020.

Ms. Sultana Afroz, Secretary to the Bangladesh government and CEO of PPPA, noted that the new High Commissioner to India had been posted in Dhaka at a time when Bangladesh is celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She outlined the potential of collaboration between the two countries in the infrastructure space given the historical, cultural and economic context of the bilateral relationship between the two countries. She noted that the first PPP project in Bangladesh providing kidney dialysis services was implemented by an Indian company.

High Commissioner Doraiswami recognized the enormous opportunities that PPPA is offering to the developing partners as it does in moving bilateral relationship forward. He noted that according to the two Prime Ministers this was the golden era of India-Bangladesh relations. The two countries are connected through history, culture and the hearts of people. He expressed his belief that Bangladesh will continue to grow under the leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

A presentation outlining the roles, responsibilities and achievements of PPPA was given. Bangladesh has a pipeline of 79 projects of which 6 projects have started construction work. PPPA is supporting projects in various sectors, such as transportation, tourism, health, housing and more.

H.E. Mr. Vikram K Doraiswami, conveyed his sincere gratitude to Ms. Sultana Afroz, Secretary and CEO of PPPA for the warm hospitality and fruitful discussion on investment and building India-Bangladesh partnerships for infrastructure development through PPP. Both the High Commissioner of India Mr. Doraiswami and Secretary, Ms. Sultana Afroz agreed that it was important for countries to grow together so that the people in the region have better lives.