The President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao met with Sri Lanka’s President on a two day meeting to the island reports Colombo Page.
President Sirisena during his meeting with the ADB president, discussed development projects including a electrification project in the southern city of Galle and called for further cooperation with the bank.
"I look forward to working with the government in elaborating and implementing its development vision and strategy through increased ADB support. ADB is re-orienting its operations to meet the evolving needs of Sri Lanka as it moves to become an upper-middle-income country in the next few years," said Mr Nakao in a press statement.
Mr Nakao is expected to visit two ADB funded projects in the south of the island during his visit.
Last week the ADB expressed its interest in increasing its funding portfolio in Sri Lanka to over $1.2 billion during the next three years. The formation of a new Country Partnership Strategy is also in consideration to cover the period of 2017-2021, reports Colombo Page.
In July last year, the ADB approved 194 loans to Sri Lanka, amounting to a cumulative lending of $7.06 billion.
The visit comes as several Sri Lankan politicians continue to oppose an ADB funded project to link the North of the island to India.
India keen to build ADB funded road link to Sri Lanka (15 Feb 2016)
Sri Lankan government ‘not interested’ in bridge to India states Minister (31 Dec 2015)
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