Germany and the European Union (EU) are providing €20 million (approximately Tk284 crore) in technical assistance to help make Bangladesh’s construction sector more environmentally friendly and climate resilient.
A tripartite meeting is scheduled to be held at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on Monday to finalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and project document for the technical cooperation project titled ‘ECO-BUILD: Scaling up Green Construction’, according to ERD sources.
The sources said the meeting will take place on the morning of 3 August in the conference room of the ERD’s Europe Wing. It will be chaired by Rokhsana Tarannum, additional secretary of the ERD and head of the Europe Wing.
Representatives from Bangladesh Bank, the Planning Commission, the Finance Division, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the ERD and GIZ Bangladesh have been invited to attend.
ERD officials said that of the €20 million, €10 million will be provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as technical assistance, while the remaining €10 million will come from the European Union as co-financing.
The EU and GIZ signed a Contribution Agreement on 12 August 2025. The entire fund will be managed and disbursed through GIZ.
The project is scheduled to run for six years, from December 2025 to November 2031.
Officials said the project’s objective is to support an environmentally friendly, climate-resilient and socially equitable transformation of Bangladesh’s construction sector through the participation of national, municipal and private-sector stakeholders.
In particular, the project will promote a shift away from conventional, environmentally harmful construction practices by encouraging the use of environmentally friendly bricks and construction materials, energy-efficient technologies and green building techniques.
The officials added that the project will support the formulation of policies for the use of environmentally friendly construction materials and technologies, implement demonstration projects in public infrastructure, and strengthen the capacity of construction workers, entrepreneurs and policymakers.
According to the draft MoU, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works will serve as the lead partner ministry, while the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will act as the co-partner. The Ministry of Housing and Public Works will also be the implementing agency.
The MoU further states that the project will be implemented under the Technical Cooperation Agreement signed between Bangladesh and Germany on 28 November 2024.
The project was initially named ‘Promoting Sustainable Transformation in the Construction Sector’, but was later renamed ‘ECO-BUILD: Scaling up Green Construction’ following an understanding between GIZ and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
Under the MoU, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works will prepare the Technical Assistance Project Proforma (TAPP) within the stipulated timeframe, while the Planning Commission will complete the approval process. GIZ, meanwhile, will submit quarterly financial monitoring reports on the German component of the project to the ERD.
Implementation of the project will formally begin once the MoU and the implementation agreement have been signed.
Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh, Rokhsana Tarannum, additional secretary and head of the Europe Wing at the ERD, said, “This is a technical assistance project. Germany and the EU are not directly transferring funds to the Government of Bangladesh.
Instead, they will work to enhance skills and institutional capacity. They will work with the government to promote the production of environmentally friendly bricks and their use in construction.”
She added, “They will also work with the government on various policies and laws relating to environmentally friendly construction practices. The meeting at the ERD will bring together all relevant stakeholders, where decisions will be taken on the next steps.”
