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.
