Bangladesh A dynamic country facing big challenges

Water shapes life in Bangladesh. The country's rivers, the Padma (Ganges), the Jamuna (Brahmaputra) and the Meghna, are essential to people's livelihoods. The abundant water and fertile soils of the country's plains, which lie only a few metres above sea level, allow farmers to produce several harvests a year.

But the same water also poses great dangers. Monsoon rains, swollen rivers and cyclones coming from the Bay of Bengal regularly cause flooding and have cost countless lives over the last few decades. Today special shelters offer the people greater safety when floods hit, but they cannot prevent the destruction of infrastructure and the loss of harvests.

In future, these weather-related phenomena are likely to become more extreme as a result of climate change. That is why Bangladesh is working hard to gain international support for its efforts to adapt to climate change. In fact, Bangladesh regards itself as a spokesperson for the countries that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Bangladesh is the most populous of the "least developed countries" (LDCs). Over the last few decades, the country has made remarkable progress and its economy is developing at a dynamic rate. If Bangladesh continues to develop in this positive manner, it is likely to move up into the group of "moderately developed countries" (MDCs) by 2024.

Development cooperation

Bangladesh and Germany enjoy friendly relations. Germany is the second biggest market after the US for Bangladesh exports. As a long-standing and reliable partner in development cooperation, Germany is held in high regard in Bangladesh.

The development support provided to Bangladesh by Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) focuses primarily on the areas of renewable energies and energy efficiency, good governance, human rights and the rule of law, better social and environmental standards in the textiles industry, and climate change adaptation.