Sheikh Hasina's return was necessary: ADB

Asian Development Bank’s Country Director Edimon Ginting says Sheikh Hasina's return as prime minister is urgent for the future of Bangladesh.

"For the good future of Bangladesh, her (Sheikh Hasina) return was very much needed," PM's deputy press secretary K M Shakhawat Moon told reporters, quoting Ginting, on Wednesday (Jan 17).

The meeting was held at the PM's official Ganabhaban residence.

Shakhawat said the ADB country director congratulated the Prime Minister on her re-election for the fourth consecutive term. "ADB is very happy," Ginting told her, adding, "We are always ready to work with Bangladesh.”

He expressed interest in the energy sector and climate change issues.

The PM mentioned that ADB's continuous support is a must for Bangladesh and thanked the agency for continuously supporting Bangladesh in its development endeavours and undertaking value-adding projects in its prioritised sectors.

She also thanked the ADB for reaching its commitment to the highest amount of $3.6 billion in the last year, according to state news agency.

Presently, ADB is funding 61 projects in seven major sectors of Bangladesh economy: Transport, Water and Urban Infrastructure and Services, Energy, Human and Social Development, Agriculture, Food, Natural and Rural Development, Finance, Public Sector Management and Governance.

Hasina requested that the ADB undertake projects catering to the needs of the graduation challenges of the Bangladeshi economy, where improvement of logistics infrastructure and service delivery should be the utmost priority.

She said that given the climate vulnerabilities and climate emergencies, Bangladesh expects to have a larger share of ADB's climate finances.

The premier requested the ADB scale up its grant and concessional climate finances for Bangladesh to develop a pipeline of high-quality climate projects and programmes to support climate outcomes in alignment with its national aspirations, manifested in "Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan 2022-2041", "National Adaptation Plan" and "Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100".

She thanked ADB for its recent approval of $400 million.

Sheikh Hasina informed the ADB that there are a number of budget supports in the pipeline for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 on which the ADB may start discussions earlier to ensure their approval within the stipulated timeframe.

She expected that ADB would continue to finance Bangladesh's priority sectors to help the country maintain its growth momentum and carry out the future vision of a 'Smart Bangladesh'.

"ADB will continue to finance projects in its prioritised sectors," Sheikh Hasina said.