Tuesday, March 7 2006 15:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Manila: Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda will arrive in India this week on a three-day visit to review preparations for the bank's Annual Meeting to be held in Hyderabad in May.

During his March 9-11 visit, Kuroda will meet senior officials and review preparations for the multilateral lending agency's 39th Annual Meeting to be held in India from May 3 to 6, ADB said in a statement.

ADB president's visit is very significant, given that it is actively participating in the country's infrastructure development and plans to scale up lending to India from average 1.24 billion a year to 2.65 billion dollar by 2008.

Kuroda's itinerary includes a visit to the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, the venue of the annual meeting which is likely to host 2,000-3,000 Government leaders, representatives of civil society groups and the private sector and journalists from around the world.

Issues that are likely to figure prominently this year include ADB's medium term strategy, global imbalances affecting Asia, India's and South Asia's role in a region that is rapidly integrating and India's massive infrastructure needs.

A series of seminars is also planned to debate Asian economic integration and sustainable energy development.

During annual meetings, Governors of ADB provide guidance on ADB administrative, financial and operational directions.

India, the fourth largest shareholder of ADB, received loans amounting to 15.4 billion dollar and technical assistance grants of about 115.8 million dollar till 2005-end.

ADB is holding its Annual Meeting for the second time in India, the previous one was in New Delhi in 1990.