bdnews24.com :
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao will arrive in Dhaka on Saturday on a three-day visit to discuss more aid for Bangladesh.
He will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AMA Muhith and inspect five ADB-funded projects.
This will be Takehiko’s first time here. He took the helm of ADB in early 2013.
Muhith told bdnews24.com ADB was one of the country’s major development partners.
“It is good news for us that the president of this organisation is coming to visit Bangladesh.”
He expressed the hope that ADB aid to Bangladesh would increase after this visit.
ADB provides an average of $900 million every year to Bangladesh in the form of loan and aid.
So far, the organisation has given Bangladesh $15.3 billion loan and grants.
Of the amount, several projects costing around $5.5 billion are under way.
ADB had pledged $610 million for construction of the Padma bridge but later pulled out after the World Bank cancelled its promised $1.2 billion loan raising allegations of corruption in the $2.9 billion project.
Takehiko will fly in Dhaka on a Singapore Airlines flight from Manila on Saturday night.
He will meet Muhith at 9am Sunday and the prime minister at 10:30am.
The finance minister will host a banquet in the ADB chief’s honour at the Hotel Ruposhi Bangla at night.
Takehiko will visit five ADB-funded projects on Monday before leaving for Sri Lanka on June 17.
