France is set to provide 50 million euro as loan for upgradation of safety standards of the country’s export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG) sector, officials said. The board of French Development Agency (Agence Française de Dévelopement, AFD) approved in December last the proposal for providing loan to Bangladesh, they added. It aims to assist and support Bangladeshi RMG factories to upgrade their safety standards (priority) as well as their social and environmental performances, according to the AFD letter. However, AFD will field a mission in Dhaka from January 17-21. The mission will be conducted by AFD team leader Mounia Chakir and be attended by its legal specialist Nadia Genision. Since 2014, AFD has organised four field missions in Bangladesh to assess the possibility of setting up a credit-line facility in favour of the country’s RMG sector. The last two missions took place in January and May 2015, sources said. The main objectives of the mission are: legal and technical aspects of the project, discuss the details of financial agreements to be signed under the project and address critical issues related to implementation framework, according to sources concerned. “It is now essential that the project starts as soon as possible in order to meet financial needs of RMG sector. RMG factories are currently facing an important time-constraint since they are expected to complete at the earliest the corrective action plans (CAPs) prepared by the Accord, the Alliance and the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA),” the letter said. In order to make the credit line operational by the second quarter (Q2)-and the third quarter (Q3) of 2016, the development project proposal (DPP) approval process will have to start at the very early of the current calendar year. The €50 million loan agreement will be signed between the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and AFD. AFD is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
