With the aim to assist BRAC University in its mission to equip leaders and policy makers in different government sectors through its Masters in Governance and Development (MGD) programme, the Netherlands Development Cooperation agreed to provide support over three years for two sets of interlinked governance activities at BRAC University. The US $150,000 contribution will aid in capacity building of the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), to tackle policy issues and managerial problems through the MGD and research and publication on related issues. An agreement was signed to this end at BRAC Centre on November 28, 2005 between Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Executive Director, BRAC and His Excellency Mr Kees Beemsterboer, Ambassador of the Netherlands. Masters in Governance and Development Studies is a new initiative by BRAC University under the auspices of BRAC. BRAC's diverse experience in training people under different capacities, involvement in the development work and public sector both at home and abroad has prompted it to pioneer an interdisciplinary but development biased programme. It will be customized to the needs and realities of Bangladesh and constantly crosschecked and fine-tuned in order to satisfy the evolving needs of governance in a global context through innovative and interdisciplinary pedagogy. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Mr Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder Chairperson, BRAC, Mr Faruq Ahmed Choudhury, Adviser, BRAC, Deputy Executive Directors of BRAC Mr. AMR Chowdhury and Mr Manzoor Hasan, Mr S N Kairy, Head of Finance, BRAC, Dr Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Vice-Chancellor, BRAC University and Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Pro-Vice Chancellor, BRAC University. Ms Tania Zaman, Adviser, Good Governance, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, was also present.