Asian Development Bank (ADB) will promote growth, human development and good governance in Bangladesh during 2008-2010 with increased focus on power, gas, transport, education, urban development and regional cooperation. It will also play a supporting role to complement other development partners’ initiatives in SME, agribusiness, irrigation, finance and agriculture development, according to a press release.

Senior government officials and ADB officers at a high-level roundtable at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on May 24 discussed these key sectoral issues and operational priorities, which will be supported by ADB’s planned assistance for the next three years. Representatives from ADB’s joint strategy partners, Japan, World Bank and DFID also participated in the roundtable. The four partners have collaborated to prepare a joint country strategy to support the implementation of the government,s National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) approved in 2005.

Initiating ADB’s joint country programming mission (CPM) and country portfolio review mission (CPRM), the roundtable laid emphasis on maximising development results, strengthening monitoring and project implementation, and addressing fiduciary risks. At the roundtable, the ADB proposed to help develop strategic transport links and cross-border arrangements, promote public-private partnerships, particularly in the energy and transport sectors, and catalyse large private sector investments.

The ADB also emphasised regional cooperation and integration, good governance and promotion of the private sector. The roundtable further underscored the need for expediting project approval, procurement and resolving audit objections. The understandings reached at the roundtable and the feedback received from senior government officials will help further sharpen the focus of ADB’s proposed lending programme for 2008-2010 and contribute to further improvement in project implementation.