Asian Development Bank - ADB

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an international development finance institutions, established in 1966 and constituted of 67 member states, 48 of which are Asian countries, whose mission is to promote economic growth and cooperation in Asia. The Bank has its headquarters in Manila, the Philippines, and operates via the activities and support of its 27 field offices, ADB pursues three complemnentary strategy- social and economie development of member countries, environmentally sustainable growth an regional integration - with the overall objective of reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific.

The primary tools used to achieve these objectives include loans, technical assistance, direct investment financing and the promotion of a political dialogue between member states. The Asian Development Fund was created in 1973 in order to provide loans with lower than market interest rates as well as credit to those countries with a limited capacity to repay their debts. After the Bank's reform in 2008, it is pursuing the main goals of economic growth, environmental sustainable development and regional integration.

The two largest shareholders of the Asian Development Bank are the United States and Japan. Although the majority of the Bank's members are from the Asia-Pacific region, the industrialised nations are also well represented. Regional development banks usually work in harmony with both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in their activities.

Organisation: The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors, composed of one representative from each member state. The Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the twelve members of the Board of Directors and their deputies. Eight of the twelve members come from regional (Asia-Pacific) members while the others come from non-regional members.The Board of Governors also elect the bank's president, who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors and manages ADB.

The president has a term of office lasting five years, and may be re-elected. Traditionally, and because Japan is one of the largest shareholders of the bank, the president has always been Japanese.

The current president is Takehiko Nakao, who succeeded Haruhiko Kuroda in 2013.

The headquarters of the bank is at 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines, and it has 25 field offices in Asia and the Pacific and representative offices in Washington, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Sydney, The bank employs about 300o people, representing 60 of its 67 members.

Focus Area: Eighty percent of ADB's lending is concentrated public sector lending in major operational areas:

Education

Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management

Finance Sector Development

Infrastructure (including transport and communications, energy, water supply and sanitation, and urban development)

Regional Cooperation and Integration

Private Sector Lending

Sample Questions

(More Questions for each concept available in Login)

Question : 1

ADB stands for which of the following?
A. Asian Development Bank	B. American Development Bank	C. Australian Development Bank	D. African Development Bank
Right Option : A
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