Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2 -- Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali had a bilateral meeting with President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB's Board of Directors Masatsugu Asakawa on Thursday.

In the meeting held on the sidelines of the 57th annual meeting of the Manila-based ADB, they discussed issues of mutual interest and reviewed the growing cooperation between Bangladesh and the multilateral development bank.

ADB has been a major source of external assistance to Bangladesh, providing an average of $2 billion per year since 2016.

ADB assistance is aligned with Bangladesh's Eighth Five-Year Plan, 2021-2025, and Perspective Plan, 2021-2041.

To date, ADB has committed 726 public sector loans, grants, and technical...