Japan pledges additional $40mln to Asian Development Bank

High-level technology promotion

YOKOHAMA: Japan on Saturday pledged additional $40 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to promote high-level technology and boost quality infrastructure in Asia.

"Japan has been promoting quality infrastructure in Asia in close collaboration with the bank," Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said at the ADB's annual gathering in Yokohama.

"Enhancing quality of infrastructure in terms of lifecycle cost and environmental and social considerations is important." The funds will be provided over a two-year period to a newly-created fund of the ADB.  ADB President Takehiko Nakao told the gathering that investment in infrastructure would remain a priority.

"More investments in infrastructure are needed to support continued growth in Asia and the Pacific and combat climate change," Nakao said in his opening address at the 50th annual meeting of the ADB's board of governors.

"Investment in infrastructure will remain a priority for the ADB, as the bank prepares a new long-term strategy to respond to rapid regional changes."

The ADB's annual meeting hosts around 6,000 government officials, academics, business officers, civil society representatives, and members of the media.

Held in Yokohama, Japan, under the theme "Building Together the Prosperity of Asia," the annual meeting is also a celebration of the Asian Development Bank's 50 years of development work in Asia and the Pacific.

Nakao said that the ADB's achievements over the past half century can be summarised as combining knowledge and finance, promoting good policies, and fostering regional cooperation and friendship.

"The ADB's future direction will be led by Strategy 2030, the bank's new long-term strategy that will map the best ways the Asian Development Bank can support Asia's growth and address development challenges, including poverty, climate change, urbanisation, aging, and widening inequalities," he added.

"The ADB continues to hold consultations on the strategy with a wide range of stakeholders from around the region and in donor countries."

Investment in infrastructure will be the ADB priority under Strategy 2030, including enhanced support for infrastructure projects that incorporate advanced technologies.  Nakao remarked that "Asia will need $1.7 trillion per annum in investments in power, transport, telecommunications, and water through 2030."

Support for social sectors, especially health and education, is the second ADB priority area under Strategy 2030. For this, Nakao said that the Asian Development Bank "will support universal healthcare systems and cross-border initiatives to combat communicable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV".

Strategy 2030 will also prioritise support for gender equality. Gender is a cross-cutting issue that influences all aspects of society and economic development.

According to Nakao, the ADB will "design projects that help women and girls secure higher skills, better health, more jobs, and a larger voice in decision-making". 

The ADB will upgrade efforts to mo   bilise private resources for development, including through public–private partnerships under the emerging new long-term strategy. "It is supporting an increasing number of private sector projects in education, health, and agriculture," said Nakao.

"Funding micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises through local banks will also remain a priority."

Nakao stressed the need to continue to reform the Asian Development Bank as part of Strategy 2030. Among the reforms, he said, the ADB will "strengthen its sector and thematic expertise, enhance staff capacity, and streamline procedures".

The Asian Development Bank president said the institution will deepen its collaboration with civil society, academia, the private sector, and local governments.

He highlighted the ADB's progress in 2016 and noted that the total ADB operations last year, including co-financing and technical assistance, reached $31.7 billion.  The ADB's loan and grant approvals reached a record high of $17.5 billion, a nine percent increase from the previous year.

Climate finance reached $3.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2015. Co-financing with public and private partners increased to $13.9 billion.

This includes the bank's first two co-financed projects with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for roads in Pakistan and a natural gas project in Bangladesh.