YOKOHAMA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here Wednesday to beef up cooperation between the two institutions for lending support to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao and AMRO Director Junhong Chang signed the MoU on the margins of the 50th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors.
The two institutions, ADB and AMRO will collaborate to support efforts and policies focused on economic growth, greater financial stability, and improved cooperation and integration in the ASEAN+3 region through the partnership.
The MoU will also help augment the two institutions’ support to further strengthen the region’s macroeconomic surveillance, besides its crisis prevention and management capabilities.
“Asia and the Pacific has made tremendous progress in improving its financial resilience and strengthening its surveillance capabilities. AMRO has been an essential part of this development,” the ADB president said, adding, “Through this MOU, ADB and AMRO will work closely together on issues that are essential to the region’s future growth and financial stability.” Since its inception in 2011, AMRO has sustained a strong partnership with ADB, including activities such as the annual Asian Regional Round-table, a host of meetings and dialogues at both leadership and working staff levels, as well as ADB’s technical assistance to strengthen AMRO’s surveillance capacity.
The MOU has been billed as a milestone towards enhancing and institutionalizing the cooperation between the two organizations following AMRO’s new status as an international organization. “The MOU marks an important step forward in our ongoing collaboration with ADB, an important partner in the region,” Ms Chang said. “AMRO looks forward to working even more closely with ADB to support regional financial stability and economic cooperation.”
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asiaand the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
ADB, established in 1966, is celebrating 50 years of development partnership in the region. Owned by 67 members – 48 from the region, ADB assistance amounted to $31.7 billion, including $14 billion in co-financing, during last calendar yeaer – 2016.
Located in Singapore, AMRO is a regional surveillance organization that aims at contributing to the regional macroeconomic and financial stability through conducting macroeconomic surveillance and supporting the implementation of the regional financial arrangement.
