Meeting: Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay met resident representative/country director designate of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Kanokpan Lao-Araya, and director general of the South Asia department, ADB Hun Kim, yesterday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Hun Kim explained that opportunities in Bhutan for ADB is expanding and hence the ADB office in Thimphu has been upgraded from a Representative Office to a full-country operation, hence, the introduction for Kanokpan Lao-Araya.

Lyonchoen welcomed Kanokpan Lao-Araya and thanked the ADB for their investment in Bhutan’s socioeconomic developmental sectors. Lyonchoen added that ADB is the biggest multi-lateral partner for Bhutan and that Bhutan has benefited in terms of connectivity and infrastructural developments.

Kanokpan Lao-Araya expressed her commitment towards working as a bridge between Bhutan and the ADB.

Earlier in the day, she also presented her credentials to the foreign minister Damcho Dorji.

Kanokpan Lao-Araya, a Thai national, is ADB’s second resident representative to Bhutan.

Bhutan formally joined the Asian Development Bank in 1982.

Staff reporter