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Opening of the South Pacific Subregional Office

Statement by
Tadao Chino
President
Asian Development Bank

Suva, Fiji
18 June 2004

Your Excellency Honorable Prime Minister of Fiji Islands,
Your Excellency Honorable Prime Minister of Tuvalu,
Honorable Representatives from the Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you, your Excellency Prime Minister Qarase for having graciously consented to officiate our inauguration ceremonies, and thank all of you for being here on this auspicious occasion.

This new office will cover ADB's operations and activities in the Fiji Islands, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. It reaffirms our shared and long-term commitment to reducing poverty through responding to the development needs of all the people in this region. The new office will bring ADB closer to the people of the South Pacific and allow us to work side-by-side in planning our assistance programs for each country in the region.

Over the years, we have supported more than 300 projects in the South Pacific, with total financial assistance exceeding $500 million. We have supported projects in numerous sectors, including agriculture, health, education, transport, energy, water supply and sanitation, urban and rural development, public sector management, and private sector development. This assistance has helped to promote sustainable economic growth, creating employment opportunities and raising incomes. A substantial part of our program has focused directly on improving the living conditions of the poorest people in the region.

Many of our Pacific developing member countries consist of small- island states. Their economies are faced with the challenges of their size, isolation, and fragmentation. ADB supports each country's development plans and objectives in line with our overarching goal of poverty reduction, particularly through sustainable economic growth, social development and good governance.

We continually seek to deepen our understanding of the dimensions and the characteristics of poverty, growth and prosperity in the region. Currently, we are in the process of undertaking extensive consultations with the governments and stakeholders in the region to finalize ADB's new assistance Strategy for the Pacific. The Strategy will help ensure that our assistance is even more responsive to the local development needs of each country, and focus on the priorities of the poor.

Our assistance will aim to generate jobs and growth by improving the environment for private sector development. We will also support the development of infrastructure and promote efficient investment and regulatory regimes, public sector reform, and more efficient financial intermediation. All of these elements are needed for a deeper and broader involvement of the private sector in the development of the region. The private sector is a highly effective engine of growth, and for it to prosper, reliable, transparent and accountable government is imperative.

In addition, we will support programs to improve the access and quality of basic social services, including education, health, and water supply and sanitation. In particular, we will work to maximize the impact of public and private resource allocations for these services. We also hope to strengthen the institutional capabilities and the provision of services to achieve the country's development objectives.

This new office in Suva aims to bring ADB products and services closer to our clients, and to help us be more responsive to the development needs of the region. Through this office, ADB will actively participate and coordinate our activities and programs with other development agencies and stakeholders as we work to maximize our development impact in the region.

My delegation and I are delighted to be in Suva for this important occasion. I am very pleased to have this unique opportunity to meet and get to know senior Government officials and development partners. ADB is strongly committed to working with each government and all of our development partners to address the development challenges and harness the opportunities in the region, to improve the lives of all people, particularly the poor and the vulnerable.

Thank you very much.