The Asian Development Bank (ADB) faces an uncertain future after failing to reach a consensus on how to reform in response to Asia's rapid but increasingly uneven economic growth.
The ADB wrapped up its annual meeting yesterday amid disquiet among many members about proposals for the multilateral lending institution to focus more on the needs of middle-income countries in the region.
While delegates were generally in favour of an overhaul to ensure the bank's continued relevance, many urged the ADB not to lose sight of its original mandate to lift millions of Asians out of poverty.
PHOTO: AFP
"While a larger number of countries in the region will become middle-income countries, some will remain low-income countries," Cambodia's ADB governor, Keat Chhon, warned a session of the bank's 67 member countries.
"There will still be a significant number of poor in the region. Our view is that the ADB should continue to focus on poverty alleviation in these low-income economies until this mission is accomplished," he said.
David Adeang, the governor for Nauru who spoke on behalf of the Pacific developing nations, also urged the ADB not to abandon the most fragile nations.
"The ADB still has a vital role to play in helping its poorest members achieve the conditions necessary for economic growth and alleviation of poverty. We cannot overlook those small, vulnerable and weakly performing states that are heavily dependent on expert advice and support from the ADB," he said.
The four-decade-old ADB is looking to forge a new role for itself, predicting that, thanks to Asia's rapid export-driven growth, most countries in the region will have escaped widespread poverty by 2020.
The ADB's main aim when it was set up in 1966 was to tap capital markets to raise funds for developing Asian economies unable to do so themselves.
Now the ADB is looking to play a greater role in fostering regional economic cooperation and knowledge creation.
It also aims to focus its investment more on telecommunications networks, new roads and other infrastructure, and on clean energy projects to try to reduce rising greenhouse gas emissions.
An outside panel of experts appointed by the bank last month urged the ADB to radically transform itself but some of its proposals, such as for the bank to manage a part of Asia's foreign exchange reserves, have met with resistance.
The US and European nations joined some of Asia's poorest nations in pressuring the development bank to not to scale down the fight against poverty.
"The ADB needs to strengthen its internal commitment to poverty reduction and the challenges facing low-income countries," said Sweden's head delegate Johanna Brismar Skoog.
"Poverty and inequality still persist in low and middle-income countries alike," added Austria's acting governor Marcus Heinz.
"We believe that the ADB must address this issue in a much more pro-active way than suggested in the [experts'] report," he said.
The US has even suggested that the ADB should prepare to wind up its activities once its job is done, warning the lender against trying to step on the toes of other multilateral institutions or the private sector.
The ADB has also come under fire from environmentalists who accuse it of contributing to global climate change through its funding of coal-fired power plants.
"Supporting renewable energies without phasing out coal is only half of the solution to climate change ... the climate cannot be half saved," Greenpeace climate campaigner Athena Ballesteros said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from