DHAKA, Bangladesh and AMERSFOORT, The Netherlands, March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --



A  large  international  consortium,  led  by  the  Dutch  consultancy  firm  Twynstra  Gudde,  has  signed  the  Contract  for  the  development  of  the  Bangladesh  Delta  Plan  2100  (BDP2100),  a  crucial  plan  for  Bangladesh.  The  other  consortium  partners  are  Euroconsult  Mott  MacDonald,  ECORYS,  Witteveen+Bos,  D.EFAC.TO,  Deltares,  Wageningen  UR,  and  UNESCO-IHE.  The  consortium  cooperates  together  with  the  Climate  Adaptation  Services  foundation,  and  two  Bangladeshi  companies,  Center  for  Environmental  and  Geographic  Information  Services  (CEGIS)  and  Institute  of  Water  Modelling  (IWM). 

We are happy to inform you that, on the 12^th of March, the ambassador Gerben de Jong and the BDP2100-team leader Jaap de Heer signed the contract on the formulation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan at the Dutch Embassy at Dhaka. For the Dutch Embassy, the Consortium, as well as the government of Bangladesh, this was a great milestone. The finalization of the contract, and the preparation of the contract, took some time, because of the political situation in Bangladesh. Therefore we are happy to inform you that the project has started. Both the consortium and the Bangladeshi counterpart (The Ministry of Planning/ GED) are eager to cooperate in this challenging, and for the country crucial, long term and holistic planning process.

The chosen strategy is highly innovative, because of the combination of water governance, interactive analyses and design, and adaptive delta management. The lessons learned from Vietnam and The Netherlands will also be incorporated.

Mobilization of the project team and Bangladeshi partners has started in an energetic way. The official kick-off will be organized soon. The results of the first explorations will be discussed in relation to the draft inception report, which will be finalized in June of this year. The consortium partners see this project as challenging with high ambitions. All partners are keen, and very much looking forward to start with this project, which already gets much international attention.

SOURCE Twynstra Gudde