By Jennifer Möller-Guland

Bangladesh is starting something no country has done before: developing and implementing the assessment of the value of water so that all future investment decisions – from government and private sector – will consider their impact on water and make better decisions.

On November 17, 2019 in Dhaka, the 2030 WRG in partnership with Bangladesh’s Water Resources Ministry and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industries organized a Dissemination Workshop on Valuing Water. The workshop targeted the private sector to share the benefits of valuing water for their business operations.

As discussed in the workshop, the following outlines the next steps in the project:

1. Developing a methodology and calculating the shadow price for water, differentiated by region, season, and source
2. In cooperation with the Planning Commission, incorporating shadow prices into public decision-making processes by integrating these into investment decision-making processes
3. Piloting and demonstrating the application of these shadow prices for water for private-sector decision making: This would involve cooperation with three companies to trial their application, refine it, and then showcase the derived benefits.

Throughout the above process, the High-Level Valuing Water committee and the Technical Valuing Water Committee – of which the 2030 WRG serves as a secretariat – will guide project implementation.

See local press coverage of the workshop by The Daily Star and The Financial Express.