ISLAMABAD: Over 3,000 delegates concluded hectic debates on the current development issues facing the Asia and Pacific region, and the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) role in addressing them.
The four-day 48th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held with title “Fostering Partnership for Development,” proved to be much more than a mere theme, since the Meeting resulted in a number of concrete steps toward greater international partnerships.
The Annual Meeting saw a varied program, with seminars addressing livable cities, economics of gender, regional cooperation in Central Asia, and financial sector development, to name a few. This was complemented by a vibrant program of panels for civil society including youth debate media events, and sponsored debates.
The Governors’ Plenary session discussed key issues including the necessity to strengthen the crucial role of city authorities in creating livable and resilient cities that were attractive places for investment and would foster innovation.
A source at the Finance Ministry told Customs Today that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar emphasized expansion and renewing of urban infrastructure. In his address to the Governors’ Plenary session on “Opportunities and Challenges for Livable Asian Cities”, Dar said that urban local governments needed access to much greater resources to deliver on the tasks with which they had been mandated. He added that the local government owned revenues needed to be bolstered, particularly by reforming the system of property taxes collection.
The Finance Minister giving his views on the occasion said good governance was a precondition for livability. The Minister added it was imperative to give cities the powers and tools they needed to drive local growth and unlock projects or initiatives that boost local economies.
Intergovernmental transfers from the state level and the centre also need to be boosted, together with better monitoring and accountability to ensure enhanced resources were well spent, he remarked.
A ground breaking initiative unanimously approved on the eve of the Meeting by the Board of Governors will see the merger of ADB’s Asian Development Fund lending operations (ADB’s concessional lending window) with its ordinary capital resources (which lends to middle-income countries at quasi market-rates) balance sheet, to increase ADB’s annual operations to as much as $20 billion, or 50% above the current level.
The expanded financial capacity will allow ADB to increase its support for sustainable development in the region. With the post-2015 development agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals and a global pact against climate change expected to be ratified this year.
The Governors’ Seminar saw a distinguished panel examine how countries are adapting their growth models to take advantage of new opportunities, to address emerging challenges and to realize the full potential of their economies.
Doubtless, the progress made at Baku and the work still to be done will be topics for discussion in a year, when the Board of Governors next meets in Frankfurt in May 2016.
