<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The World Bank's Managing Director of Operations Axel van Trotsenburg arrived in Dhaka today on his first official visit to Bangladesh.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">During his three-day visit, van Trotsenburg will join a public event in Dhaka tomorrow to mark 50 years of the partnership between Bangladesh and the World Bank Group and celebrate the country's remarkable development achievements.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Bangladesh has shown the world what can be done to dramatically reduce poverty through successful innovations in human development, women's empowerment, and climate adaptation," said Axel van Trotsenburg, according to a press release.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The World Bank is proud of its 50-year partnership with Bangladesh and being part of the country's remarkable development journey. I look forward to my visit and to seeing these achievements firsthand." added Trotsenburg.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Axel van Trotsenburg will meet with the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, and other senior government officials, civil society representatives, and development partners, and visit World Bank-supported projects. He will be accompanied by Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh after its independence. Since then, the Bank has committed about $39 billion, mostly in grants or concessional credits to Bangladesh.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh currently has the largest ongoing program supported by the World Bank Group's International Development Association (IDA). BSS</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>