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Information Policy and Strategy

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The setting

The bank has changed from a relatively straightforward project lending institution to a complex development agency responding to a wide range of development needs in its DMCs. As the DMCs continue to implement economic reforms; as their needs for infrastructure, human resources, and new technology grow; as investments in environmental protection become more pressing; and as socioeconomic concerns like poverty, education, health and population, water supply and sanitation, and urban development and housing become more urgent, the Bank faces increasing demands on its assistance and services. In response, it has developed new lending modalities, is more involved in policy and macroeconomic issues, and is giving its operations a sharper country focus. Even though the Asian and Pacific region has developed into the fastest growing economic region in the world, the Bank’s responsibilities as a catalyst for development—to be supported by financial resources—are expected to continue.

In 1991, the Bank launched strategic planning to guide its operations in its DMCs. Since then, it has adopted a number of initiatives to transform itself into a broad-based development institution with a strong regional perspective.

In support of the Bank’s mission, a medium-term strategic agenda have been set for promoting development, resource mobilization, and regional cooperation. The Bank’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework incorporates five strategic objectives: promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, improving the status of women, developing human resources (including population planning), and sound management of natural resources and the environment.

The Bank’s operations now reflect a stronger country focus. Greater attention is paid to the policy and institutional environment in the borrowing DMCs, their implementation experiences, and each country’s commitment to reforms. Crosscutting issues are increasingly addressed in designing Bank activities. At least 50 percent of Bank projects are now expected to address poverty reduction, human resource development, gender issues, and environmental concerns. Sector strategies are being reviewed to conform to new developments. Greater emphasis has been placed on project quality.

Activities to promote regional and subregional cooperation in economic development are growing. These will become increasingly important as the so-called “growth triangles” begin to impact on the region’s economic life and as multilateral efforts, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, gather momentum.

At the same time, the Bank has introduced prudential financial policies on loan default and country risk management to improve its reputation as a financially sound, well-managed, and cost-effective institution. The Bank must ensure that its operations and administrative practices are well understood by its member countries and by the broader public.

Clearly, the Bank has a number of new and important messages that should be communicated more widely and effectively under a well-defined, clearly focused information policy. As a regional international finance institution, the Bank should systematically inform its constituencies about the expanding and changing character of its operations in both the public and private sectors. An effective information program should provide vital support to the Bank’s work. Such a program can also help change social attitudes with regard to such issues as population and women in development.

The need for continued support for the Bank has led to greater demands from various quarters and interest groups for more information about the Bank and for greater transparency and accountability with regard to its activities. The Bank must be prepared to respond positively to such demands.

Because of budget constraints in donor countries and greater competition for resources required to sustain international finance institutions like the Bank, it is necessary to enhance public awareness in member countries about what the Bank does and stands for. A greater degree of public awareness and support will underpin the Bank’s efforts to mobilize resources for its activities, not only through general capital increases and replenishment of the Asian Development Fund, but also through cofinancing and inducing flows of private capital into the region.

Operating as it does in an environment of changing information technology, the Bank has greater opportunities now to explain its position on various issues of economic policy that affect its DMCs. A clear and more proactive information policy will help the Bank do so more effectively.

While the Information Office of the Bank already disseminates a large amount of information in a number of ways, its activities in the past have been largely reactive in nature. Consequently, the Bank receives much routine coverage in the DMC media, but the level of general awareness of the Bank, especially in developed member countries, remains very low. Even after 32 years of operation, the Bank is not well known in many of its donor countries and is poorly understood in some DMCs. The Bank generates a great deal of information but delivers little by way of message. This constrains support for its activities. This paper emphasizes the need for a more proactive approach to information dissemination about the Bank’s strategic goals and operational activities. It describes an information policy and strategy to put that approach into practice.

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