The four-day 51st annual meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors began in Manila, Philippines on Thursday with the theme of ‘Linking People and Economies for Inclusive Development’.
A Bangladesh delegation led by Finance Minister AMA Muhith is scheduled to attend the meeting at 13:05pm (Manila Time).
Muhith is ADB’s Bangladesh governor; Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam, alternate governor.
Azam is among others in the delegation and Mahbub Ahmed, alternate Executive Director of Bangladesh at the ADB, is also expected to join them.
The finance minister will have a number of meetings in Manila. One of those will be with ADB President Takehiko Nakao.
He will also attend 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Finance Ministers Meeting in the Filipino capital.
This year’s annual meeting is the 16th to be held in Manila, with the last one in 2012. It will examine global and regional issues affecting development in Asia and the Pacific.
Bangladesh joined ADB in 1973, and the country became the first ADB member to host a field office in 1982, as UNB reports.
To date, more than $20 billion in ADB loans, grants, and technical assistance has been approved for the country. Approved non-sovereign loans, equity investments, and guarantees totals $985.28 million.