Colombo (News1st): President Maithripala Sirisena made his first visit to the Asian Development Bank headquarters today (January 17) while conducting a state visit to the Philippines. President Sirisena met with ADB President Takehiko Nakao during the visit.

During the visit, President Sirisena and Nakao discussed development challenges faced by Sri Lanka and ADB’s role in helping address them and signed three loan agreements totaling $455 million for projects in higher education and transport as well as a technical assistance loan in the urban sector.

This year, ADB’s total commitment to Sri Lanka, including these three loans, will amount to $815 million. ADB will continue to maintain a strong pipeline of projects totaling about $800 million a year in the current Country Partnership Strategy, 2018–2022, compared with $500 million a year in the previous CPS period.

The three loans signed today are:

1.  $145 million for a project to support the development of science and technology faculties in four universities to nurture a new breed of technology-oriented graduates;
2.  $300 million to finance construction of about 5.3 kilometers of an elevated toll highway to link Colombo’s international port with the country’s expressway network;
3.  $10 million technical assistance loan to finance the establishment of a facility that will help improve the design and implementation of urban projects in Sri Lanka.

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