The 57th ADB Annual Meeting attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Biman Prasad in Tbilisi, Georgia is focused on the new National Development Plan and Fiji's strategic priorities including the formulation of the 2024 - 2028 Country Partnership Strategy which will guide ADB's operations in Fiji, the access to concessional lending and grants, private sector development and regional integration.
During the Annual Meeting, Professor Prasad expressed his gratitude to the ADB President for announcing the favourable lending terms for Small Island Developing States including Fiji and acknowledged their financial support of almost US$400 million since the pandemic which expedited Fiji’s economic recovery.
He also highlighted the importance of fostering private sector development and bolstering the ADB regional office with resources and innovative mechanisms to support SMEs and women entrepreneurs which will form part of the new National Development Plan.
Professor Prasad also emphasised the transformative potential of fostering deeper and meaningful regional cooperation and integration among Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific region to facilitate the ease of doing business and seamless movement of people, positing this as a potential game-changer for regional projects in vital sectors such as education and health to engender regional public goods, fostering the development of a more interconnected and resilient Pacific community.
