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PRC Sets Up $20 Million Regional Cooperation and Poverty Reduction Grant Fund at ADB

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (11 March 2005) - The People's Republic of China (PRC) is contributing US$20 million to set up a technical assistance fund approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to promote regional cooperation and poverty reduction among the countries of developing Asia.

The Regional Cooperation and Poverty Reduction Fund [ PDF ] is the first such fund to be set up by a developing member country of ADB and the first financed by the PRC at any international institution.

The fund aims to promote faster economic and social development in Asia by financing regional cooperation and poverty reduction initiatives.

All ADB's developing member countries will be eligible for grants supporting regional cooperation under the fund, although priority will be given to members of the Greater Mekong subregion (GMS) and Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. For country specific projects, all Asia Development Fund eligible countries can apply to the fund for support.

"The fund will encourage innovation and learning in support of research, policy-related studies, capacity building and institutional development in DMCs, and will pilot innovative approaches to knowledge dissemination and networking," says Philip Erquiaga, Principal Director of ADB's Office of Cofinancing Operations.

Over the next five years, to 2009, the fund will encourage greater sharing of knowledge and experience on regional cooperation and poverty reduction across developing Asia. It will support countries in professionally managed, comprehensive benchmarking of their regional cooperation and poverty reduction efforts, learning from those that have achieved excellence in these areas, and helping to set appropriate performance measures and realistic targets for improvement.

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, with 45 from the region.

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