ADB appoints new country director

---

A curtain-warehouse caught fire at city's Elephant Road Tuesday. Later, firemen doused the fire. — FE Photo

FE Report
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Thevakumar Kandiah as the Country Director for the Bank's Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM).
Mr. Kandiah, a Malaysian national, is expected to assume his new assignment on 31 May 2010, an ADB press release said Wednesday.
He succeeds Paul J. Heytens, who has been assigned as Country Director to ADB's resident mission in the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Kandiah, who has been with ADB since 1983, brings with him broad development banking experience in the region, with focus on infrastructure development, particularly in transport and energy sector development, financing and implementation, the ADB press statement said.
As Director of ADB's South Asia Energy Division, Mr. Kandiah has been overseeing ADB's operations in the energy and power sectors in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka since 2003.
His extensive experience also includes financial analysis and development of transport infrastructure, particularly highways, ports and railways, financial management assessments of electricity and gas utilities, as well as private sector participation frameworks in infrastructure development.
Mr. Kandiah holds a B.Sc. in Economics and is also a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, England & Wales.
ADB, the Manila-based multilateral lender, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members 48 from the region.
In 2009, it approved a total of $16.1 billion in financing operations through loans, grants, guarantees-- a trade finance facilitation program, equity investments, and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilised co-financing amounting to $3.2 billion.