Catalog

Bank Representative Offices in Donor Countries: Establishment of a North American Office

January 1995

This paper recommends that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) open a North American Regional Office (NARO) in 1995. It would be headed by a Resident Representative, and would cost an estimated at $1million.

Why are offices in donor countries needed?

• They would strengthen ADB's interaction with constituencies
  i.e. governments, legislatures, opinion leaders, nongovernment organizations, and individuals in donor countries concerned with investment in the Asian and Pacific region

• They would have opportunities to show donors that multilateral development assistance has a useful catalytic role, its rate of return on investment has been high, and ADB is an important mechanism for achieving such high returns

• Maintaining regular personal contact with other multilateral financial institutions (MFIs), many of which are headquartered in Washington, D.C., would enhance cooperation, exchange of information on new policy issues and concerns, and ability to monitor changes in operational policies

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Bank Representative Offices in Donor Countries: Establishment of a European Office and a Japanese Office A Review of North American Representative Office

View the document [ PDF: 57kb | 14pages ]. To read, you need Acrobat.

Contents

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1. Introduction

2. Strengthened Bank Representation in Donor Countries

   1. Meaning of Strengthened Bank Representation
   2. Need for Strengthened Bank Representation
   3. Responsibility Within the Bank for Strengthened Representation

3. Bank Representative Offices in Donor Countries

   1. Unique Opportunities Provided by Resident Representation
   2. Roles and Responsibilities of Representative Offices in Donor Countries
   3. Coordination and Support Services to Representative Offices from Bank Headquarters
   4. Performance Assessment of Representative Offices

4. Bank Resident Representation for Europe, Japan and North America

5. Representation of Other Multilateral Financial Institutions in Donor Countries

6. Proposal for a North American Representative Office

   1. Importance of Early Resident Representation in Washington, D.C.
   2. Responsibilities and Terms of Reference

7. Cost of the Bank's Representative Office in North America

8. Organizational Arrangements

9. Recommendations

Appendix [ PDF: 14kb | 2 pages ]