ADB President Kuroda Receives Certificate from WWF
AThe President received a certificate of appreciation from the World Wide Fund for Nature. Jim Leape, Director General and CEO of WWF International, presented the certificate in recognition of ADB's leadership role in mainstreaming environment as a key dimension of poverty reduction and for mobilizing crucial resources in the fight against climate change. Read the news release.

ADB President Calls for More Investment, Cooperation, to Improve CAREC Trade Logistics System
Efficient and cost-competitive transportation and logistics services will help governments in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region stimulate economic activity and promote social and political cohesion, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said in the CAREC Ministerial Meeting.

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ADB Provides $1 Million for Samoa Tsunami Victims
ADB will provide $1 million to support emergency relief efforts in Samoa, following the recent devastating tsunami which left close to 170 people dead and thousands homeless. The funds will be used to supply a wide variety of essential needs to people affected by the disaster.

Read the news release

ADB Pledges $3 Million for Philippines Flood Victims
ADB has pledged $3 million in support of emergency relief efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Ondoy (international code name Ketsana), which inundated the Philippines recently, causing the worst flooding in Manila in over 40 years. Read the news release.

Video: Philippines Country Director, Neeraj Jain talks about the $3 million in emergency support granted to the Philippines in the wake of Tropical Storm Ketsana.

From Crisis to Opportunity: A Time for Decisions
As Asia begins to recover from the global economic crisis, governments in the region should look to expand social safety nets that can both protect the poor and help spur economic growth, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said at the start of a three-day conference. Read the news release.

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Learn more about the event
Watch: video interview with Xianbin Yao (Director General, Regional and Sustainable Development Department)

Philippines Switches to Energy-Efficient Bulbs
ADB is supporting the first nationwide campaign in Asia to replace inefficient incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps. The switch will save the Philippines over US$ 1 billion over the next 10 years, while reducing CO² emissions by 300,000 tons annually. Read the news release.

Read: Fast Facts—Philippine Energy Efficiency Project
View photo essay
Visit the clean energy website

Resilient Asia to Lead World Out of Crisis
Despite the notable slowdown in growth this year in most economies across developing Asia, the region has proved to be more resilient than initially thought, says ADO 2009 Update. Read the news release.

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Economic Corridors Driving Development in Mekong
At this week's Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Corridors Forum, Mekong nations are working to fast-track the transformation of transport corridors into full-fledged economic zones that will help propel development, stimulate trade and create jobs. Watch interview with Arjun Goswami, Head of ADB's Regional Cooperation Group, Southeast Asia.

Read the news release

Asia's Corporate Bonds Drive Market Growth, ADB Report Says
Local currency bond markets in emerging East Asia grew rapidly in the first half of 2009 as governments continued to fund economic stimulus packages. Notably, corporate bonds have become a significant driver of overall market growth as the region recovers from global recession, according to the latest issue of the ADB's Asia Bond Monitor. Read the news release.

Download Asia Bond Monitor

ADB Hosts Regional Anti-Corruption Seminar
ADB hosted a two-day "Regional Seminar on the Political Economy of Corruption" in Manila. It brought together government representatives and anti-corruption officials from across the Asia-Pacific region, and featured a keynote address by Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International. Read the news release.

ADB Supports Clean Waste-to-Energy Project in China
ADB signed an agreement to lend up to US$200 million to China Everbright International Limited to develop waste-to-energy plants in secondary cities across China. It will mark ADB's first private-sector municipal solid waste management project. Read the news release.

View the photo essay
Listen to podcast: interview of Joe Yamagata, Deputy Director General of ADB's Private Sector Division

Key Indicators 2009
A new ADB publication—Key Indicators 2009—contains 172 statistical tables that record progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals as well as other key economic and social development indicators across member countries. The special chapter is "Enterprises in Asia: Fostering Dynamism in SMEs." Download Key Indicators 2009.

Read the news release
Read the special chapter: Enterprises in Asia: Fostering Dynamism in SMEs

Bringing Power to Afghanistan
For the first time in a generation, many of Kabul's four million people can enjoy the benefits a regular supply of electricity. Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB's Central and West Asia Department, describes ADB's role in bringing power to Afghanistan from neighboring Uzbekistan. View the video.

View: Photo essay| Video: Kabul Lights Up
Watch video interview of Ahmed Wali Shairzay, Deputy Energy Minister of Afghanistan
Visit the Afghanistan website

ADB Outlines Solutions to Help Asia Meet Water Needs
Asia must look to adopt a range of clever new solutions to tackle its growing water and sanitation crisis, according to Arjun Thapan, Director General of ADB's Southeast Asia Department. Speaking on the occasion of World Water Week in Sweden, Mr. Thapan outlined how the region can ensure better equity and quality of water and sanitation in line with its development goals. Read the news release.

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ADB and Partners Address HIV Risks in Infrastructure Projects
New infrastructure projects have brought major economic benefits to Asia and the Pacific region, but they can also facilitate the spread of HIV and other diseases which ADB and its partners are actively working to mitigate, ADB Vice-President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss told an AIDS congress. Read the news release.

Visit ADB's HIV and AIDS website
Download: Intersections - Gender, HIV, and Infrastructure Operations

Emerging East Asia Entering Transition from Recession to Recovery
Although economic growth is continuing to slow this year, emerging East Asia has already entered the transition from recession to recovery, says the July issue of the Asia Economic Monitor. Read the news release.

Download the report
Listen to ADB Chief Economist Jong-Wha Lee's podcast

New Safeguard Policy Approved
The ADB Board has approved a new Safeguard Policy Statement that consolidates and builds upon current ADB policies on Environment, Indigenous Peoples and Involuntary Resettlement. The new policy will enhance the effectiveness, sustainability and development impact of the projects ADB supports. Download the new policy.

Read the news release
Visit the Safeguards website

ADB Improving Its Development Effectiveness
ADB operations have delivered tangible benefits to the lives of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific over the past four years. Still, there are several areas needing further improvement at both the project level and within the organization itself, says a new development effectiveness report. Read the news release.

Download the report

ADB to Provide $200 Million Crisis Support for Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan
ADB is extending $200 million in loans and grants to help Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan sustain critical social spending programs that have been imperiled by the global economic crisis. Read the news release.

Visit ADB's Global Economic Crisis website
Download: The Global Economic Crisis Challenges for Developing Asia and ADB's Response

ADB President Urges More Aid for Trade, Cautions against Protectionism
Increased assistance for trade-led development is vital for Asia and the world to recover from the latest economic crisis and ensure long-term growth, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said at the Second Global Review of Aid for Trade in Geneva, Switzerland. Read the news release.

Read the speech
Visit the Aid for Trade website

Powering the Poor: Projects to Increase Access to Clean Energy for All
The stories in this new ADB publication—told through villagers and those helping them on the ground—portray resourceful ways of giving poor and remote communities access to clean and renewable energy. Download the publication.

Learn more about ADB's Clean Energy Program
View photo essay: Energy for All

Sustained Water Sector Investment Can Help Fuel Growth
Governments in Asia and the Pacific must continue to invest in water infrastructure in spite of the economic crisis or face fundamental threats to their economic growth and social development, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said in the Singapore International Water Week opening. Read the news release.

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ADB's Board Approves New Energy Policy
The Board has approved a new ADB Energy Policy to guide ADB operations in the energy sector. The 2009 Energy Policy is congruent with Strategy 2020. It will align ADB's energy operations to meet energy security needs, facilitate transition to a low-carbon economy, and achieve ADB's vision of a region free of poverty. Learn more about the policy.

Download the 2009 Energy Policy [ PDF ]
Read the news release
Learn more about ADB's clean energy program

ADB Hosts Climate and Clean Energy Week Forums
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was welcomed at ADB by President Kuroda. In her closing speech to the High-Level Dialogue on Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific, President Arroyo outlined her Government's commitment to combat climate change.

Video: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discusses the important role Asia and Pacific nations should play in addressing climate change
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ADB Helps Combat Desertification in Asia
This year's World Day to combat desertification calls on everyone to conserve land and water to help secure our common future. Under its Strategy 2020, ADB promotes environmentally sustainable growth and assists developing countries adopt sustainable land management systems to combat land degradation. Learn more about desertification.

Visit the following sites: Environment in Asia | Climate Change

Nepal's Growth Hampered by Instability, Poor Infrastructure
Nepal's pace of growth and poverty reduction has lagged behind that of other South Asian countries. The study "Nepal: Critical Development Constraints" identifies the critical constraints responsible for this and policy options to help overcome the contraints. Read the highlights.

Read the news release

ADB Hosts Climate and Clean Energy Week Forums
Government leaders, policymakers, and climate change experts from around the world will gather in the Philippines this week for a hig-level dialogue and a series of meetings to help Asia-PAcific countries move toward low-carbon and climate-resilient programs Read the news release.

Learn more about the event

Old Southeast Asia Battlefields Become Business Zones
Commercial trucks from Thailand and Viet Nam are entering each other's territory for the first time following a formal exchange of traffic rights. Read the news release.

Video: New Road, Transport Agreement Boost Families' Incomes in Lao PDR
Learn more about the Greater Mekong Subregion

ADB Celebrates World Environment Day
This year's World Environment Day calls for each individual to unite to combat climate change. Under its Strategy 2020, ADB is assisting the region's developing countries move towards a low-carbon growth path and boost their resilience to the adverse effects of climate change. As an institution, ADB is also responding to the call by minimizing its corporate environmental footprint.

View the Poverty and Enviroment in Asia and the Pacific multimedia presentation
Visit ADB's Climate Change website
Learn more about ADB's Environment Program

ADB, Islamic Development Bank to Set Up Infrastructure Fund
ADB and the Islamic Development Bank agreed to set up Asia's first major multi-country Islamic infrastructure fund. The Islamic Infrastructure Fund, targeted at $500 million, will make Shari'ah-compliant equity investments in the 12 countries that are borrowing members of both development banks. Read the news release.

Watch video: ADB's Johanna Klein discusses the new Islamic infrastructure fund

Aid-For-Trade Efforts Urged to Counter the Economic Crisis
Ministers, trade and senior government officials from around Asia gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia to discuss the impact of the global crisis on trade, how Aid for Trade can support private sector growth, and how to include trade into national development strategies. Read the news release.

Read ADB President Kuroda's speech
Learn more about the meeting

Entries Open for 2009 Journalism Awards
The ADB Institute invites journalists to enter the 2009 annual Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA). The program aims to recognize journalists covering development trends and the impact on countries and people in the region. Register online.

Read the announcement

ADB Takes Part in World Ocean Conference
Thousands of delegates from around the world have gathered in Manado, Indonesia, for the World Ocean Conference that will culminate in the first Leaders Summit of the Coral Triangle Initiative. Read the news release.
See the multimedia feature
Download the Coral Triangle Initiative brochure
Visit the Coral Triangle Initiative website

ADB Responds to the Global Economic Crisis
This new report says ADB plans to increase its lending assistance by more than $10 billion in 2009-2010, bringing total ADB assistance for these two years to about $32 billion. This compares with about $22 billion in 2007-2008. Read the news release.

Download the publication
Visit the Global Economic Crisis website

42nd Annual Meeting Closes in Bali
The global economic crisis is an opportunity to restructure the approach to development and bring about a more sustainable global balance, President Kuroda told the Annual Meeting. Read the news release.

Podcast
Visit the Annual Meeting website

Protecting Whistleblowers and Witnesses
ADB is seeking feedback on proposed improvements to its existing whistleblower provisions to expand and clarify protections for those who report integrity violations and misconduct. Read the news release.

Visit the Anticorruption and Integrity website

ADB Triples Capital to Boost Poverty Reduction Efforts
ADB's Board of Governors has agreed to triple ADB's capital base from $55 billion to $165 billion, giving it much-needed resources to respond to the global economic crisis and to the long-term development needs of Asia and the Pacific. Read the news release.

Southeast Asia Needs Urgent Climate Change Action
Southeast Asia, one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change, faces a poorer future unless global warming is controlled, says a new ADB study. Read the news release.

Download the study
ADB Assistant Chief Economist speaks about economic impacts of climate change: Podcast | Video

Asia Capital Markets Monitor
Asia's capital markets are starting to stabilize and the region's relatively resilient economies should help them recover as the global crisis ebbs and investor appetite returns, says the inaugural issue of ADB's Asia Capital Markets Monitor. Read the news release.

Download the report [ PDF ]
Visit AsianBondsOnline

ADB Loans Increase to $10.5 Billion in 2008
ADB approved $10.5 billion in loans, a 5.3% increase over the previous year, according to ADB's 2008 Annual Report, released ahead of the 42nd Annual Meeting to be held 2-5 May in Bali, Indonesia. Read the news release.

Download ADB's 2008 Annual Report

Rebalancing Growth Key to Enduring Downturn
Developing Asia must pursue more balanced growth to help protect it from future external shocks, according to ADB's flagship economic publication, ADO 2009. Download the publication.

News release: Bleak Outlook for Developing Asia
Interview | Podcast

World Water Day 2009: Sharing Water Across Borders
World Water Day 2009 focuses on opportunities for cooperation in transboundary water. Learn more about ADB's projects that foster strong collaborations for managing Asia's transboundary waters.

See photo essay.

Policies on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis
A new ADB Institute report recommends policies for East Asian leaders to counter the current financial stress and economic downturn. Download the report.

Visit the ADBI website
Visit ADB's Global Financial Crisis website

Global Market Losses Reach $50 Trillion
The crisis slashed the value of financial assets worldwide by $50 trillion last year, with developing Asia suffering more than other emerging markets, says a new ADB study. Read the news release.

Speeches: ADB President Kuroda | Michel Camdessus
Download the study [ PDF ]
Visit ADB's Global Financial Crisis website

Celebrating International Women's Day
ADB is marking the occasion with a panel discussion opened by ADB Vice-President Bindu Lohani on women and the economic crisis. Speakers are from Canada, Philippines, and Pakistan.

Read remarks by ADB's Shamshad Akhtar
View photo essay
Learn more about ADB's work in Gender and Development

Meeting Asia's Sanitation Challenge
ADB is hosting a dialogue this week among ministers, senior executives, and city mayors of its developing member countries to discuss sanitation options for the region. Learn more about the event.

Speech | News release | Video
Visit ADB's Sanitation website

ADB's Ordinary Capital Resources: Investing for Our Future
Since 1968, ADB's OCR has supported projects that have enabled a dynamic set of countries to build infrastructure and create an environment for development. Read the impact stories.

Download PDF version
Visit the General Capital Increase website and see news coverage

ADB Imposed Sanctions on 79 Entities in 2008 Due to Corruption
ADB imposed sanctions on 41 firms and 38 individuals last year as a result of its corruption investigations. This makes a total of 552 firms and individuals banned from working for ADB since it began investigating corruption allegations in 1998. Read the news release.

Download your free copy of the report
Visit the anticorruption and integrity website

Asia's Local Bond Markets Set to Expand This Year
Emerging East Asia's local currency bond markets should grow again this year with governments and companies set to seek fresh funds, says a new ADB report. Read the news release.

Watch video: ADB's Jong-Wha Lee discusses emerging East Asia's local currency bond markets
Download the Asia Bond Monitor
Visit AsianBondsOnline

Helping Philippines Lighten Its Power Bills
ADB will fund an energy-efficiency project in the Philippines that will give away 13 million energy-saving lights to homeowners and businesses as part of a government push to cut the nation's power bills. Read the news release.

View the photo essay
Visit our Clean Energy website

Revitalizing Historic Inner-City Areas in Asia
A new ADB publication explores how three cities with historical centers - Ha Noi, Jakarta, and Manila - demonstrate the opportunities for public and private investments. Download Revitalization of Historic Inner-City Areas in Asia.

Eminent Persons to Advise ADB on Institutional and HR Management
ADB has established an Advisory Group of six eminent persons to advise on institutional and human resources management under ADB's long-term strategic framework, Strategy 2020. The Advisory Group is chaired by former EBRD President Jean Lemierre. Read the news release.

Global Financial Turmoil, and Developing Asia: Is the Era of High Growth at an End?
A new ADB paper summarizes events of the crisis from the US to the other industrial economies, emerging markets, and developing Asia. It sets the context for the Asian Development Outlook 2009 with an emphasis on rebalancing growth in developing Asia and, by implication, the world economy. Download the paper.

Visit our Economics and Statistics website

Climate Change and Transport: Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Transport
A new paper analyses volatile fuel prices and increasing greenhouse emissions and recommends a new, target-oriented approach that places energy efficiency, environment, and health at the top of the policy agenda for transport and related sectors. Download the paper.

Visit our Economics and Statistics website