Bangladesh will put forward its needs for $2 billion to $2.5 billion foreign assistance per fiscal year for budget implementation in the upcoming meeting of Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF), a consortium of donor agencies.

The demand for the amounts for the current and the next fiscal years from the development partners will be placed at the meeting scheduled for February 15-16 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials said Bangladesh's expectations in various areas will come in a report at the meeting, which is going to be held after a recess of more than four years.

ERD secretary said yesterday no pledge of foreign assistance is made at such meeting of the donors. However, the meeting indirectly helps in getting resources for future.

ERD Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and Local Consultative Group (LCG) Chairman and DFID Bangladesh head Chris Austin will co-chair the meeting.

They highlighted different aspects of the BDF meeting at a joint press conference at the finance ministry conference room yesterday.

One of the main topics to be discussed at the meeting is the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for 2009-2011. The government's financial requirements to implement the PRSP will also be presented.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the meeting.

In each of the FY2010 and FY2011 the government will have a total resource gap of $4.16 billion, of which the government hopes to get $2-2.5 billion each year from the donors to implement the PRSP.

The government in the report will place its projected GDP (gross domestic product) growth at 6 percent for FY2010 and 6.7 percent for FY2011.

The meeting will discuss six sectors -- development strategies, governance and human development; energy and power; agriculture, food security and water resources; environment and climate change; transport and communications; and Digital Bangladesh and ICT (information and communication technology) -- towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In the meeting sessions the government will present the macro-economic situation, the fifth five-year plan, energy and power development plan, transport and communications development plan, agriculture and water resources development plan, and ICT plan.

A 'development fair' will be organised on the sidelines of the meeting where some 40 stalls will showcase Bangladesh's successes in various sectors. Also, there will be stalls from the development partners, non-government organisations and private sectors.

The ERD secretary said representatives from 32 multilateral and bilateral development partners will attend the meeting. India, China, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have also been invited, as these countries are also partners in Bangladesh's development initiatives in the present context.

Chris Austin said one of the main objectives of the meeting is to know the details of the government's development priorities for the next four to five years.

The government has an ambitious plan to upgrade the country to a middle-income one in near future. So the government is working in collaboration with the development partners to fulfil the commitments and minimise the gap, Austin said.

He said the accountability of the fund is ensured from two sides -- recipient countries and the sources of the funding agencies.

The LCG chairman said the government has to improve the quality of education and healthcare to develop the country. Bangladesh has successfully reduced poverty by 10 percent over the last decade, he added.