World Bank Vice President Praful Patel to visit Dhaka

DHAKA, Bangladesh, June 23 (BSS) - Vice-president of the World Bank's
South Asia region Praful C Patel will arrive here tomorrow on a
two-day long visit at the invitation of the government.

"The visit is intended to further strengthen the partnership
between Bangladesh and the World Bank Group in meeting the
development challenges of the country," a press release of the
World Bank said.

Patel provided a strong leadership over the World Bank
programmes in Bangladesh with concessionary lending growing from
US $ 321 million in 2002 to US $ 753 million this fiscal year, it
said.

During his visit, Patel will call on Chief Advisor Dr
Fakhruddin Ahmed, meet Finance Advisor Dr Mirza AB Azizul Islam
and concerned senior officials, civil society representatives and
the private sector operators to discuss how the World Bank group
can best assist Bangladesh to attain the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).

The World Bank assistance includes support in growth,
poverty reduction, social protection and infrastructure
development.

Last week, the World Bank Board approved US$ 320 million in
two budget support operations to assist the government implement
its wide-ranging governance, economic policy, and energy reform
agenda.