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Mutual Trust Bank Ltd. (MTB), a private commercial bank in Bangladesh, was selected as the 2023 Global Climate Partnership Award winner. Chosen from a pool of 14 innovative applications by a jury of external experts, MTB stood out with its innovative idea of bridging the gap between smallholder farmers in Bangladesh and cost-effective electric vehicle (EV) solutions through accessible finance. Beyond its climate benefits, MTB seeks to establish an inclusive financial ecosystem that will significantly enhance the farmers’ quality of life.
The 2023 Award program, sponsored by the Technical Assistance Facility [1] of the Global Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF), aimed to empower investees to develop innovative climate finance solutions and foster investable climate mitigation projects tailored to their respective markets.
Besides the financial prize, the 2023 Award program sought to bring many additional benefits including opportunities for capacity building. Webinars, online learning resources, 1-1 coaching support, and training were provided to stimulate creative thinking and nurture the development of innovative ideas to advance climate finance.
Judith Brandsma, Chairperson of the jury said “It was a pleasure serving as Chairperson on the jury this year. My fellow colleagues and I were pleased to share the excitement of the proposal and video reviews. All 14 applications were well received with this year’s winner presenting a very innovative proposal to develop a financing scheme with significant impact potential to advance not only climate change mitigation efforts but also the livelihoods of farmers in Bangladesh. MTB’s proposal was future-looking and well-structured with an executable plan, including a detailed budget and action plan. As a bonus, the pitch was well-executed, enthusiastic, and convincing. We congratulate MTB for its submission, and we cannot wait to receive updates from the implementation phase.”
The Bank’s Managing Director & CEO, Syed Mahbubur Rahman talked about the Bank’s motivation to participate in this year’s award: “Our goal is to emerge as the most reliable financing partner for innovative green solutions. To do so, we continue to strive to develop new and innovative solutions that can help us address burning socio-economic issues. Our idea has great potential to transform the EV industry by reducing transportation costs and the dependency on fuel.
It will also create inclusive financing opportunities for root level farmers and introduce modern farming techniques that will help reduce CO2 emissions and energy usage. Winning this award provides us with the financing to quickly put our plan into action and work with our external stakeholders to achieve success.”
MTB will receive USD 50,000 to implement their award-winning climate finance concept. Additional Managing Director & Chief Business Officer, Md. Khalid Mahmood Khan along with his team shared their vision: “This prize will help us to address some of the most pressing challenges that continue to affect small farmers in Bangladesh, such as rising food prices, low bargaining power of farmers, and environmental vulnerability. We are thankful to GCPF and the Technical Assistance Facility for this opportunity and cannot wait to share the good news with our internal team members who worked hard on the concept, but most importantly, our external stakeholders who stand to benefit the most from this project.”