New ADB country director for BD

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) appointed Kazuhiko Higuchi as the new country director for its Bangladesh resident mission.

"I am looking forward to working for Bangladesh, and its people," Kazuhiko Higuchi was quoted as saying in a statement by the ADB in Dhaka on Thursday.

"Bangladesh is progressing fast and ADB will continue to make every effort to support Bangladesh's endeavor toward further reaping the potential of the country," he said.

Higuchi succeeds M Teresa Kho, who moved to become the country director for ADB's resident mission in New Delhi, India in February this year. Higuchi is expected to assume his new position on 22 April 2014.

Higuchi, a Japanese national, joined ADB in 1988, and has been worked on transport, water supply, and urban development projects, as well as on portfolio management, procurement, and office management.

Prior to this assignment, he was in Uzbekistan as ADB country director, a post he had held since 2009.

From 2005 to 2009, Higuchi was director of the transport and communications division of the South Asia Department of ADB, managing ADB's operations in the transport and communications sectors in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. From 2002 to 2005, he was posted in Kazakhstan as ADB country director.

Kazuhiko Higuchi holds a Master of Science degree in construction management from Loughborough University of Technology, UK, and a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan.

Bangladesh has been a member of ADB since 1973. Since then, ADB has provided Bangladesh with around $ 15.4 billion in loans and grants, including $872 million in 2013 alone.

ADB's priority areas for support in Bangladesh include energy, transport, urban infrastructure and water supply and sanitation, education, agriculture and natural resources, and finance sectors.

As of 31 December 2013, ADB's assistance for Bangladesh included 58 loans with $ 5.19 billion in total value.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members -- 48 from the region.

In 2013, ADB assistance totaled $ 21.0 billion, including cofinancing of $ 6.6 billion.