DHAKA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a 100 million U.S. dollars loan to help Bangladesh respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loan will enable the Bangladeshi government to ramp up its testing, tracing and treatment capacity and improve the longer-term pandemic preparedness of the country.
According to a statement of AIIB on Friday, Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic as it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with a large percentage of the population living in informal settlements without adequate basic services and infrastructure.
"The unfolding pandemic presents an unprecedented global challenge and has widespread and severe negative social, economic, and financial impacts. said AIIB Vice President for Investment Operations D.J. Pandian.
"Through the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project in Bangladesh, AIIB can help ease the significant pressures and strains on the country's healthcare infrastructure, systems, and supply chains and mitigate the risk of loss of life and suffering faced by the people," the vice president said.
AIIB says all the components of support are consistent with the country's priorities and are designed to help the government of Bangladesh address the immediate health effects, and longer-term economic and social effects, of the COVID-19 pandemic, while serving the dual purpose of strengthening national systems to better respond to future disease outbreaks. Enditem
