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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - About 2,500 delegates will gather in Hyderabad, India, next week for ADB's 39th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.
The event, to be held on 3-6 May, brings together economic and finance planning senior government officials, ministers, academics, journalists, government officials, business people, investment bankers, and representatives of international organizations and nongovernment organizations.
The venue is the new Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC) – India's largest – located in the country's fastest growing high-tech corridor.
Among the issues expected to figure prominently this year are the development challenges facing Asia in the face of global imbalances, India's - and South Asia's - role in a region that is rapidly integrating, and the Asia and Pacific region's massive infrastructure needs.
The meeting takes place in the context of an Asia and Pacific region that is economically buoyant – ADB projects the region will achieve an overall economic expansion of 7.2% in 2006 and 7% in 2007, a marginal easing from 7.4% in 2005.
A disorderly unraveling of global payment imbalances, human to human contact of the avian flu virus, yet higher oil prices, or a surge in trade protectionism would unsettle the outlook.
Delegates will be looking at how to address poverty in the context of these challenges and a rapidly changing Asia and, in particular, how ADB can respond to the region's changing needs.
The Annual Meeting's formal Opening Session takes place at the HICC on Friday, 5 May. Besides the business sessions and seminars, other events of interest to reporters during the week are the country presentations, ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' meeting on the sidelines, an Open Forum on ADB-NGO Cooperation, and the Governors' seminar.
Complementing these, the annual seminar series this year addresses such themes as Knowledge-Based Economies in the 21st Century, Transforming Asian Economies with E-Services, Asian Economic Integration, Infrastructure, and Sustainable Energy Development.
The Annual Meeting's formal events are due to close on the afternoon of Saturday, 6 May.
A fully equipped Media Center will be set up for reporters at the exhibition centre. Staffed by ADB's Department of External Relations, it will have desk space for more than 100 journalists and booths for news agencies.
Annual meetings are statutory occasions for the Governors of ADB members to provide guidance on ADB administrative, financial, and operational directions. It is ADB's second to be held in India, following one in New Delhi in 1990.
India, a founder member of ADB, is ADB's fourth biggest shareholder overall (behind Japan and the United States, and the People's Republic of China). ADB total lending assistance to end-2005 for India amounts to about $15.4 billion, while about $115.8 million was provided for TA grants.
According to the latest India Country Strategy and Program Update, ADB plans to scale up lending levels to India from an average of around $1.24 billion in recent years to around $2.65 billion by 2008.
See the invitation for journalists, which gives details of registration, facilities, accommodation, and shipment and display of publications.
A detailed program of events can be accessed at http://adb.org/AnnualMeeting/2006/program-events.asp.
For further details, email Omana Nair at onair@adb.org or Gilda Nanquil at gnanquil@adb.org.
See also Annual Meeting web site at http://www.adb.org/AnnualMeeting/2006/