Catalog

At first glance, the Latin American and Caribbean region and the Asian and Pacific region seem to have little in common. But a closer look reveals exactly the opposite. With globalization making countries around the world more interdependent, cooperation within regions and between regions is becoming increasingly important.

To capitalize on this opportunity, the Japan Program of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has fostered a partnership that promises large returns for regions on both sides of the Pacific.

On 17 March 2001, IADB signed a Partnership Agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the 42nd Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of IADB and the Inter-American Investment Corporation in Santiago, Chile. IADB, the oldest and largest regional multilateral development institution, was established in 1959 to help accelerate economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement provides a strategic framework for promoting development-oriented cooperation based on the mutual advantages of ADB and IADB.

“We (ADB and IADB) are committed to making this partnership effective for our institutions, as well as for our work in the field. We look forward to increased interaction between the banks and between the countries of our respective regions,” said Shoji Nishimoto, Director of ADB’s Strategy and Policy Department, in a joint statement during the signing ceremony.

Nohra Rey de Marulanda, Manager of IADB’s Integration and Regional Programs Department, remarked that “this Partnership Agreement with the ADB is much more than a symbolic expression of goodwill between our institutions. It gives both institutions vested interests, as well as reasons and means to explain and promote the tangible benefits of interregional cooperation.”

Strengthening Linkages

IADB launched the Japan Program in 1999 with support from the Government of Japan. The Japan Program strives to create opportunities for providing the expertise, knowledge, and best practices of Asia to the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean—and vice versa. Its priority is to promote the sharing of information and technical specialists to enhance initiatives that will benefit from cross-regional exchanges. Coordinated by a core group within IADB's Integration and Regional Programs Department, the Program is a US$30 million technical grant facility.

While the Japan Program has been undertaking activities to strengthen linkages with Asia, there was growing interest within IADB to develop a closer relationship with ADB. As a result, a series of workshops and technical exchanges with ADB were organized in 2000 on regional integration, social funds, safety nets, microfinance, and financial crises. During these sessions, IADB and ADB counterparts highlighted their different experiences with common development issues, such as the use of social funds to cope with the social dimensions of financial crises.

Building a Strategic Partnership

With continued support from the Japan Program, the future of collaboration between ADB and IADB is promising. The initiatives and activities under the Partnership Agreement are designed to provide a practical way of sharing relevant information and exchanging expertise, as well as building a long-term strategic relationship between the two institutions.

Under the Partnership Agreement, ADB and IADB agree to collaborate in areas of direct relevance to the priorities and strategies of both institutions, including technical support for projects and information exchange on crosscutting issues, poverty reduction, and good governance, regional and subregional development, transpacific business cooperation, and development promotion tools. Practitioners’ forums are being regularly organized for counterparts from ADB and IADB to exchange institutional expertise on development issues.

In cooperation with the ADB Institute in Tokyo, a new professional association is being developed—provisionally called the Latin America-Caribbean and Asia-Pacific Economics and Business Association—to encourage comparative research on the business economics of the regions and enable researchers to exchange ideas, discuss current research, and cooperate with policymakers and the private sector.

Moving the Cooperation Agenda

Since April 2001, an IADB secondee has been serving as the focal point for ADB-IADB collaboration. Posted in ADB’s Strategy and Policy Department, the focal point coordinates joint activities and ensures continuity through interinstitutional communications.

One of the first collaborative activities was held during the Pacific Day seminars at the 34th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors. With financial support from the Japan Program, the focal point helped coordinate the participation of two private sector specialists from the Caribbean to exchange different experiences with Pacific counterparts on small and medium enterprise (SME) development.

Several other exchanges in the form of workshops and comparative studies have been conducted or are being implemented. Some of the topics include business services for SMEs, customs procedures, regional development policies, regional trade and the World Trade Organization, and municipal services in health and education.

The themes for activities planned for 2002 and beyond will be of great interest for the partners and their regions, and include privatization of public utilities, information technology for development, web-based training on trade policy, and cross-regional nongovernment organization exchanges.

Know more about ADB's work in the Pacific

Read the ADB Review article -- "The Pacific and ADB: Partners in Progress"

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