Staff Correspondent

The United Nations Development Programme said Sunday that it would work as a coordinator to manage funds from different donor agencies to procure food to meet shortfalls in food stocks in Bangladesh, an official said.

The UNDP intends to hold talks with different organisations and countries that provide food assistance to Bangladesh, UNDP administrator Kemal Dervis told reporters after a meeting with the finance adviser in his office.

Dervis, also under secretary-general of the United Nations, said the world was now facing a food deficit as falling production led to increased prices.

Finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam and Dervis discussed the overall food crisis in Bangladesh in light of last year's flooding and devastating cyclone.

The UN official said he could not say at present how much food assistance Bangladesh would finally obtain, although a tentative estimate would be made following discussions with the donor agencies.

The finance adviser told Dervis that the caretaker government would try to deliver food assistance to those in need through increased social security measures.

Other topics under discussion included the overall economic situation in the country, the agriculture and energy sectors, the export sector and GDP growth, Dervis said.

The UNDP administrator arrived in Dhaka on Saturday for a three-day trip to meet with high level officials, and visit sites related to the general elections, and development in Bangladesh.

His trip here is the second stop in a three-country Asia tour that started in Thailand and will also take him to India. Dervis' trip included a field visit to see the ongoing voter registration, and an urban poverty reduction initiative.

Together with eight other development partners, UNDP helped to pool $50 million for the voter registration programme.

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