IDB president in Dhaka

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) President Dr Bandar MH Hajjar arrived in Dhaka on Friday night in a two-day official visit.

The IDB Chief is scheduled to inaugurate the IDB regional head office at a hotel in the capital.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) sources said IDB president will join a day-long program named 'Transformers Road Show' at capital's Radisson Hotel on Saturday.

Science and Technology Minister Architect Yafes Osman and IDB Chief Dr Bandar MH Hajjar will inaugurate the programme.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the regional head office of IDB at a function to be held at Hotel Radisson. The Islamic multilateral development agency currently operates a field representative office in Bangladesh.

Establishment of the regional hub in Dhaka is expected to give a major push to the IDB activities in Bangladesh as well as help speed up its decision-making process. At present, the Dhaka office needs to take final nod from its Jeddah headquarter for its activities in Bangladesh.

A regional hub manager will head the Dhaka headquarter which will cover three IDB member countries - Bangladesh, the Maldives and Afghanistan - as well as a number of non-member countries like India and Myanmar. The IDB began its activities in 1975 and it has 56 shareholding member states.