News Briefs
By Graham Dwyer ( gdwyer@adb.org )
External Relations Specialist
Joseph Stiglitz
Development entails not only closing the gap in resources between developed and less developed countries, but also closing the technology gap, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz told an audience at ADB headquarters in Manila in April.
In a lecture on “Globalization, Technology, and Asian Development,” Mr. Stiglitz said increasing globalization offers challenges and opportunities today that are greater than ever before.
“The countries that have been most successful have had a comprehensive technology policy, including education, research, and finance,” he said. “Asia is in fact the most striking example of this success.”
He added that when globalization policies are well designed, they can promote technology and development.
Examples cited include trade linkages and foreign direct investment that can bring access to markets and technology, training requirements that promote the transfer of knowledge, and joint ventures that exploit local knowledge and facilitate the adaptation of technology.
But poorly designed globalization can inhibit development, he told the audience. He pointed out that capital market liberalization and policies focusing excessively on inflation can lead to instability in the real economy, excessive reliance on foreign banks may inhibit the supply of finance to small-and medium-sized enterprises, and unbalanced intellectual property agreements may hinder access to new technology.
Mr. Stiglitz, Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia University in New York, was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 2001.
His lecture formed part of ADB’s Distinguished Speakers Program, established in 1982, in which eminent scholars and policy practitioners discuss the latest progress and debates on cutting edge development issues.
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Representatives of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed a joint letter in April formally inviting India to participate in the 1,600-kilometer Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project - TAP project.
The proposed $2.5 billion project will transport up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from the Dauletabad fields in southeast Turkmenistan to consumers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and possibly India. It has significant potential to improve stability and raise living standards in South and Central Asia.
The oil and gas ministers from the three countries, who attended the project’s fifth steering committee meeting in Manila, signed a letter inviting India to participate both as an investor and as a major purchaser of the gas.
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ADB approved a policy to step up the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the Asia and Pacific region, through increased assistance to its developing member countries, improved cooperation and coordination with other organizations, and a strengthened internal system to protect its own funds from misuse.
The policy puts ADB’s activities against money laundering and the financing of terrorism within the broad context of its work in poverty reduction, strengthening financial systems, and promoting good governance and anticorruption. It also seeks to complement rather than duplicate programs of other agencies, such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), United Nations, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and FATF-style regional bodies.
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The Right Honourable Gavyn Arthur, the Lord Mayor of the City of London (left), visited ADB on 11 April. After a briefing from senior staff members on four topics—ADB’s activities, money laundering, ADB’s involvement in the financial markets of the United Kingdom, and ADB’s financial sector strategy—he paid a courtesy call on ADB President Tadao Chino and was the guest of honor at a luncheon. Shown with the Lord Mayor is ADB Secretary Bindu Lohani.
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The date and place of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, originally scheduled to be held in Istanbul from 21 to 23 May, has been changed to Manila (at ADB Headquarters) on 30 June 2003.
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ADB President Tadao Chino (left) and Viet Nam’s Minister of Agriculture Le Huy Ngo signed a letter of intent on 21 March under which ADB and its funding partners will further assist Viet Nam to improve the water security of poor people in rural areas. The investment partnerships will have a total value of $335 million, of which an estimated $75 million would come from Viet Nam and $180 million from ADB, subject to approval by ADB’s Board of Directors. Cofinancing will be sought for the balance.
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