ADB chief to visit PNG
The National, Monday June 24th, 2013
ASIAN Development Bank president Takehiko Nakao will arrive in Papua New Guinea today to visit project sites and discuss its assistance programme with government officials.
He will be in Port Moresby for a two-day visit.
Nakao is also the chairman of the bank’s board of directors.
He was elected president by the ADB’s board of governors and assumed office in April.
Before joining ADB, Nakao was vice minister of finance for international affairs at the ministry of finance in Japan.
Nakao will visit Jackson Airport at 3.15pm today to view the ADB supported civil aviation development investment programme.
The programme is boosting the safety of air services at Port Moresby’s Jackson Airport with the construction of an extended, separate parking bay for planes at the domestic terminal.
The programme has bought three fire trucks for the airport.
Since joining the ADB in 1971, PNG has received 75 loans worth US$1.5 billion (K33.4 billion), as well as one Asian Development Fund (ADF) grant worth US$15 million (K32.6 million) and 148 technical assistance projects worth US$62.8 million (K136.5 million).
Papua New Guinea is ADB’s largest partner in the Pacific in terms of loans for public and private sector development.