Wednesday, August 19 2020 19:11

ArmInfo.RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today held a video call with Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa, the press service of the RA Prime Minister reports.

According to the source, Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Masatsugu  Asakawa on his appointment as ADB President and invited him to visit  Armenia after the epidemic is over.

The Prime Minister noted that ADB is one of Armenia's reliable  partners. Various programs implemented in our country in the fields  of transport, energy, urban development, healthcare, education, and  the private sector development support provided by the Bank testify  to effective ties of partnership between the Government of Armenia  and the Asian Development Bank.

"We appreciate the ongoing cooperation with ADB and are keen to  further develop it," Nikol Pashinyan said. The Premier praised the  Bank's financial and technical assistance to Armenia on the way to  overcoming the economic impact of COVID-19.

Pleased with Prime Minister Pashinyan's invitation to visit Armenia,  Masatsugu Asakawa assured of ADB's readiness to deepen the mutually  beneficial partnership with Armenia. The ADB President welcomed the  Government's anti-crisis programs aimed at minimizing the pandemic's  adverse consequences. He reaffirmed the Bank's willingness to  continue supporting Armenia through the bilateral partnership  program. Masatsugu Asakawa stressed that the Bank will assist Armenia  in overcoming the economic hardships caused by the global pandemic.

Mr. Asakawa highlighted the effective ties of partnership established  between ADB and Armenia, which facilitate the implementation of SME  support initiatives and several lifeline programs to develop  transport communications, energy, healthcare, the financial sector  and urban infrastructure.  

The Prime Minister and the ADB President discussed a broad range of  issues on the agenda of cooperation between the Government of the  Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank. Views were  exchanged on the epidemiological situation in Armenia, the  Government's anti-crisis policy and the prospects for cooperation in  this area.  

Nikol Pashinyan thanked the ADB President for his readiness to  support our country, noting that the Armenian government is  developing a package of measures for economic recovery after the  epidemic, which calls for closer cooperation with all international  partners, including ADB.

Armenia joined ADB in 2005 and belongs to the group of countries with  mixed (concessional and conventional) financing. ADB works to reduce  poverty in Asia and the Pacific by promoting economic growth and  regional integration. In the transport sector, ADB continues to  assist Armenia in the construction of the North-South transport  corridor, as well as in strengthening transport links between cities  with high levels of poverty. According to statistics on the bank's  website, by the end of 2017, ABD implemented 52 projects in Armenia  for a total of $ 1.32 billion, $ 635 million of which were directed  to the development of transport infrastructure, $ 172 million to  urban infrastructure and water supply, $ 152 million to finance, $  142 million in energy, $ 140 million in administrative management.