World Bank Managing Director Anna Bjerde set to visit Bangladesh

Bjerde will meet the prime minister, finance minister and civil society representatives

Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s managing director of operations, is set to visit Bangladesh for the first time.

She is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on a single-day official visit on Saturday night, the bank said in a statement.

Martin Raiser, World Bank vice president for the South Asia region, will accompany her during the visit.

Bjerde will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and other senior government officials and civil society representatives, the statement read.

The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh after its independence. Since then, the bank has committed about $41 billion, mostly in grants or concessional credits to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh currently has the largest ongoing programme supported by the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA), the bank said.