ISLAMABAD: Pakistan looks forward to further strengthening its partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its new President Masatsugu Asakawa, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said on Wednesday.
Talking to media on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos, he said the PM had an excellent meeting with the new ADB president.
He thanked the ADB for supporting Pakistan through various financing tools, which, according to him, had helped turn around the country’s economy.
“We are thankful to ADB for the special financing tools they have adopted to support Pakistan. This is an excellent partnership…they (ADB) has contributed significantly in turning around our economy,” the adviser remarked.
Speaking on the occasion, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said it was an honour for him to meet the Pakistani premier in his first official meeting after assuming the job.
He said Pakistan had been a very good partner of the bank for last 50 years and was also one of its founding members. Asakawa said Pakistan and ADB had been maintaining a beautiful relationship for years.
“When Pakistan entered into the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Programme last year, ADB too decided to support Pakistan’s reform agenda as much as possible including its agenda on monetary policy, fiscal policy and taxation issues,” he maintained.
The ADB chief said the bank also desired to support Pakistan’s Ehsas programme, which was targeted to support the poor.
He expressed the hope that the cooperation between Pakistan and ADB would continue, saying he would be visiting Pakistan soon to discuss programmes of future cooperation.
