The German government's commitment came during Dhaka-Berlin official negotiation that ended here on June 8.

A press release of German embassy yesterday said the talks focused on health, private sector development and power, the three priority sectors of German Bangladesh development cooperation.

Other important topics of the policy dialogue were the reform policy of the Bangladesh government and questions of governance, it said.

The German side appreciated the ongoing endeavours of the Bangladesh government to finalise the comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Bangladesh is a priority partner country for German development cooperation.

The release said the negotiations which also covered the year 2004 decided on an overall allocation of 87.3 million euro (Tk 663 crore) including reallocated funds.

With 36.6 million euro, the largest part was allocated to Bangladesh's Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP), which will be implemented together with other donors in a jointly financed sector wide approach.

An amount of 25,4 million euro will be spent for private sector development. This includes 2 million euro for technical cooperation. It is intended to support a programme to improve rural infrastructure in the Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong divisions in close cooperation with the ADB and other bilateral donors.

Some funds are earmarked for trade related technical advice to strengthen the capacity of the Bangladesh government to negotiate with international and regional partners.

The power sector receives euro 25,3 million, out of which 2 million is for technical cooperation. These funds will be mainly used to increase energy efficiency in transmission lines and to build up solar home systems which will give households, schools and health stations in remote areas access to clean energy for the first time.

Among development partners Germany is one of the longest standing supporters of the power sector in Bangladesh. Previously funds were mostly allocated to power generation including the rehabilitation of old power plants, transmission lines and renewable energies.