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The Long-term Strategic Framework of The Asian Development Bank (2001-2015)

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The Strategic Agenda

The vision of ADB is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. As the region’s premier development finance institution and the only multilateral development bank with a regional focus, ADB strives to be an effective partner for the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific in responding to the challenges of achieving sustained and equitable development, improving the quality of life, and eradicating poverty.

ADB’s mission, therefore, is to help its DMCs reduce poverty and improve living conditions and the quality of life. ADB recognizes that sustained growth that is pro-poor, social development, and good governance are essential for poverty reduction; this vision also reflects the belief that unleashing the potential of the poor will substantially contribute to overall growth and enhance the quality of life for all. ADB’s long-term strategic framework for 2001–2015 is intended to help realize this vision.

Recent Initiatives. ADB has undertaken a number of recent initiatives intended to strengthen its contribution to development in the region. The poverty reduction strategy,⁵ adopted in November 1999, is a landmark document, reflecting the vision of the institution in declaring poverty reduction its overarching objective. It reflects a broad view of poverty as the deprivation of essential assets and opportunities. As a response, poverty reduction is to be addressed through three types of mutually supportive initiatives: pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Complementing this, the private sector development strategy⁶, adopted in March 2000, strengthens ADB’s capacity to support the private sector’s contribution to development in the region. In addition, ADB has articulated its medium-term strategy for the Pacific DMCs in light of their unique characteristics and ADB’s charter mandate to address the problems of its small DMCs⁷. The agenda for ADB’s long-term strategy builds on these recent initiatives.

Strategic Framework. ADB’s long-term strategic framework (LTSF) responds to the development challenges of the region and the requirements of the IDGs (Box) and reflects ADB’s evolving role. Investments will be required for the provision of infrastructure and growth-promoting activities, for ensuring sustainable economic growth, inclusive social development, and governance. These investments will need to be accompanied by policy reforms and institution and capacity building. The strategic agenda of ADB addresses these concerns.

Core Strategic Areas. The agenda is divided into three core areas of intervention, consonant with the poverty reduction strategy:

• sustainable economic growth, which covers broad-based growth-promoting activities, including investments in both physical and social infrastructure, and an environment program that promotes environmentally sound development;
• inclusive social development, which will include investments in social support programs and a policy and reform agenda that will promote equity and empowerment, especially for women and disadvantaged groups; and
• governance for effective policies and institutions, which will include support for public sector management at all levels; legal and judicial reform; and improving public accountability. Governance must also promote processes and procedures for more effective participation in decision making to promote equitable and inclusive growth, especially by civil society.

Crosscutting Strategic Themes. The three core areas will be complemented by three crosscutting themes that will both broaden and deepen the impact of the core areas of intervention:

• Promoting the role of the private sector in development builds on the private sector development strategy, recognizes the central role of the private sector and of markets in the development process, and responds to the challenges of mobilizing private sector resources to address the region’s increasingly complex development agenda.
• Supporting regional cooperation and integration for development reflects the need to support the development of DMCs through cooperation, to provide wider development options through greater access to resources and markets, to address shared problems that stretch across borders, and to take advantage of opportunities for sharing knowledge and information.
• Addressing environmental sustainability includes putting environmental considerations in the forefront of all development decision making and planning in the DMCs and in all ADB initiatives, and not only stopping but reversing the enormous and costly degradation and damage to the environment that have already occurred.

ADB’s proposed strategic agenda will shape the direction of the institution over the next decade and a half. The agenda reflects ADB’s position as the only multilateral bank in Asia with a regional focus and is intended to enhance ADB’s role as a broad-based development institution. Since the development challenges of the region are far beyond the capacities and resources of individual institutions, the strategic agenda is also intended to provide a basis for selectivity and improved efficiency in operations. Since, over the 15-year time horizon of the strategic agenda, conditions in the region and globally will inevitably change, ADB will need the capacity to respond to the evolving capabilities, needs, and demands of each DMC, and to reshape its role and operations accordingly. The proposed agenda is thus a framework for action. It is intended to provide the basis for the institution to remain an effective development partner for all DMCs in the next 15 years and beyond.

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