Dhaka may urge ADB for special financial support

FE Team | Published: September 19, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Dhaka might urge the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for special financial support to Bangladesh aiming to recover losses caused by recent floods, official sources said.
The appeal for aid will be made by Finance and Planning, and Commerce Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam during a meeting with ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda in Manila Wednesday.
Mirza Aziz is now in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, to attend a two-day regional conference on "Mobilising Aid for Trade: Focus on Asia and the Pacific." The conference begins today (Wednesday).
Official sources said the finance adviser will hold talks with the ADB chief on the sideline of the conference, organised jointly by the ADB and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
More than two dozens top finance and trade ministers from Asia and the Pacific, and trade experts along with participants from investment banks and corporations are expected to discuss ways and means to strengthen trade-related capacity and infrastructure in developing Asia and the Pacific, sources said.
In the conference, Dhaka might seek some special financial benefits from the developed nations and international donors for empowering the least developed countries (LDCS) like Bangladesh to benefit from the global trade, the sources said.
ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy will inaugurate the two-day conference today (Wednesday).
A finance ministry source said that Mirza Aziz would have two separate meetings with the ADB president and high officials of the Manila-based donor on the sideline of the conference.
He will brief them about Bangladesh's current reform activities, particularly the reforms in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Election Commission, judicial system and Public Service Commission (PSC) in order to inform the global lender about new Bangladesh.
Besides, the adviser will request Haruhiko Kuroda to extend special support to the flood-hit Bangladesh for its post-flood rehabilitation works and reduce fiscal deficit, the source noted.
"As the ADB has no emergency assistance fund for the flood, the finance adviser will request the Bank's president for providing its special support to Bangladesh for the post-flood rehabilitation works," the finance ministry official stated.
Mirza Aziz might also request the ADB chief to extend the Bank's support in some priority areas of the country like power generation, energy exploration, reforms in the public administration and infrastructure development, the source added.
According to the ADB sources, the Manila conference will focus on how regional multilateral institutions like the ADB can contribute to making "Aid for Trade" a viable, efficient and effective way to help LDCs and small states benefit from increased trade, growth and stronger economic cooperation and integration.
The gathering will be second of the three regional meetings to be held this year in the context of the "Aid for Trade" initiative launched in December 2005 at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. The other two conferences will focus on Latin America and Africa.