Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Tuesday called for a strong, institutionalised partnership among NGOs, the private sector and the government to address development challenges and ensure sustainable financing.

He also called for time-bound measures to establish a sustainable financing framework for NGOs.

Khosru made the remarks as the chief guest at a seminar titled “Beyond Foreign Dependency: The Future of NGO Financing in Bangladesh” at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

He said the government was working to address emerging crises and ensure accountability.

“We do not want merely to listen; we want to provide effective responses,” he said.

The minister said an integrated framework was needed to promote human development, preserve local culture and increase private-sector participation.

NGOs and other stakeholders are already working in areas such as the creative economy, but their cooperation needs to be given a more institutional and policy-based framework, he said.

Khosru said NGOs play a vital role in delivering government services directly to people at the grassroots and stressed the need for stronger institutional partnerships among NGOs, the private sector and the government.

He urged the authorities to formulate and implement policies within specific timeframes to facilitate sustainable financing for NGOs.

Referring to traditional crafts such as Shital Pati, Khosru said Bangladesh needs to promote modern designs, value addition and effective marketing to take such products to international markets.

He also stressed the need to ensure four conditions when approving development projects: value for money, returns on investment, employment or entrepreneurship generation, and environmental protection.

“No project will be approved if these four conditions are not met,” he said.