Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali on Thursday sought policy based lending (PBL) supports from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for undertaking trade policy, logistics, climate and LDC graduation reforms.
During a bilateral meeting with President of the ADB and the Chairperson of ADB's Board of Directors Masatsugu Asakawa, Minister Ali also requested ADB to increase concessional climate finance and facilitate cross-border energy trade.
In the meeting held on the sidelines of the 57th annual meeting of the Manila-based ADB, he also requested the ADB to assist Bangladesh in its initiatives for tax sector reform, undertaking projects for river restoration and developing some of the thrust sectors of its economy such as, jute, leather and tourism towards Bangladesh’s drive for diversifying economy.
In response, the ADB President praised Bangladesh government’s strong climate and development agenda, and assured ADB’s continuous support, both in sovereign and non-sovereign resources, in Bangladesh’s prioritised sectors.
Finance Minister Ali is currently leading a seven-member Bangladesh delegation to the 57th annual meeting of ADB at Tbilisi in the capitol of Georgia.
On his first day of engagement into the ADB Meeting, the minister attended a high-level panel titled “Harvesting hope; ensuring a food secure, climate resilient Asia and the Pacific” alongside a distinguished panel of speakers.
In his remarks, Ali highlighted how Bangladesh despite a land scarce country emerged globally as the third largest producer of rice and vegetables by increasing food production, supporting agriculture and expanding social safety programmes under the guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s inclusive development policies.
