Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Tadao Chino called on
Asia and Pacific countries to promote private sector development,
increase investment, and foster regional cooperation to ensure
sustained economic growth in the fight against poverty in the
region.
The lack of infrastructure has proven to be a major impediment
to growth in the region. "Recent estimates suggest that the
investment requirements for infrastructure for the Asia and Pacific
region exceed $250 billion per year. Infrastructure is critical for
realizing sustained broad-based economic growth, and has strong
linkages with other sectors," Mr. Chino said.
The ADB President made the comments in his keynote address at
the opening of the three-day conference, "Scaling Up Poverty
Reduction: A Global Learning Process," in Shanghai. The conference
is sponsored by the World Bank, in cooperation with ADB, and other
multilateral and bilateral donors, and hosted by the government of
PRC. The gathering will enable developing countries and key
development organizations to share experiences and lessons learned
from poverty reduction initiatives around the world.
Asia and the Pacific have seen strong economic growth in recent
decades that has seen a dramatic reduction to poverty in the
region. The number of people living on less than a dollar a day
fell from 32% in 1990 to 22% in 2000. That translates into a
reduction from 900 million poor in the region to 720 million or 180
million fewer people living in poverty.
Despite these successes, Asia faces a sobering array of
challenges. Mr. Chino called on the international community to
supplement the efforts of the developing countries to reduce
poverty by increased financial support. He said a portion of ADB's
Asian Development Fund, which shareholders recently pledged to
replenish by US$7 billion, would be allocated for grants to support
poverty reduction programs in the poorest developing
countries.? He also called for innovative approaches and
adequate resources to respond to the wide-ranging needs in
middle-income countries.
He also cautioned that limited progress has been made in
attaining the non-income Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
noted that there is a serious risk that many countries in the
region may not achieve the goals related to health, education,
gender, and the environment. "The task before us in the fight
against poverty, therefore, remains both urgent and immense."
Mr. Chino said that for poverty reduction efforts to be
meaningful, economic growth should be inclusive, which requires
institutional reforms, better governance, responsive bureaucracies,
and improved capacities.
ADB's Poverty Reduction Strategy, adopted in 1999, aims to fight
poverty in all its dimensions, and is built on three pillars:
promoting pro-poor sustainable economic growth; social development;
and good governance.?
The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in
the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic
growth, social development, and good governance. Established in
1966, it is owned by 63 members, including 45 from the
region.? In 2003, ADB approved loans and technical assistance
amounting to US$6.1 billion and US$177 million, respectively.
(China.org.cn May 26, 2004)