Welcome Remarks by
President Tadao Chino
Asian Development Bank

at the Media Briefing and Cocktails

13 May 2004
ICC Jeju, Republic of Korea

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to welcome you to the 37th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors. It is a great pleasure to see so many members of the media gathered in Jeju. This evening, I see some familiar faces, and hope that over the next few days we will make many new friends.

We are very pleased to be on the beautiful island of Jeju and most grateful to our host, the Government of Korea, for the excellent arrangements.

Before turning to the Annual Meeting itself, I should like to give you some important information regarding replenishment of the Asian Development Fund, ADB's concessional lending window for its poorest borrowing member countries.

I am very pleased to announce that discussions on the eighth replenishment of ADF (ADF IX) just concluded successfully yesterday in Seoul. The negotiations were characterized by a high degree of partnership and participation among shareholders. 28 members of ADB pledged contributions, including a first-time contribution from the People's Republic of China and renewed support to ADF from Malaysia.

Donors-who had previously met in Copenhagen, Tokyo and Lisbon-reached agreement on an ADF IX program, covering four years from 2005 to 2008 at a level of $7 billion, significantly higher than ADF VIII. This will profoundly contribute to ADB's efforts to fight poverty in the Asia and Pacific region, which, as you know, is still home to two thirds of the world poor, with about 720 million people living on less than $1 a day.

Donors have also agreed to establish a grant program in ADF IX , for the first time in ADF history. Grants will assist poor countries facing debt sustainability challenges and those emerging from conflict. Grants will also be used to combat serious public health crises facing the region. And grants will support technical assistance for knowledge generation and capacity building. Grants would represent up to 21 percent of total ADF IX operations.

I assured donors that ADB would work closely with them to ensure the best use of these new resources to further improve development effectiveness. Details of the ADF replenishment, which has provided an excellent curtain raiser to our Annual Meeting, are contained in the News Release which is now available.

I have to attend other meetings after this, and will therefore not be able to discuss this further with you. However, concerned ADB staff, including Mr. Christopher MacCormac, Director, Strategic Planning, Policy and Interagency Relations Division, Strategy and Policy Department, which spearheaded the bank's work on the ADF replenishment-are on hand to answer your questions.

In the wake of the successful ADF negotiations, we are indeed going into our Annual Meeting with a renewed sense of commitment to our mission of reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region. Over the next few days, ADB's strenuous efforts towards achieving this goal, particularly with regard to development effectiveness and helping our developing member countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals, are likely to be a focus of discussion.

The pace of Asia's economic growth, its emerging role as an economic powerhouse as well as the risks and challenges facing the region are other topics that are bound to stimulate lively debate.

In addition, many important issues will be discussed in the seminars and special presentations scheduled this week. These include the possibility of a single currency for East Asia, the challenges of infrastructure financing, and the role of domestic credit rating agencies in Asia. Country presentations are also planned on the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

I should also like to note that tomorrow is "Korea Day"-a day-long event that looks at Korea's contributions to regional economic cooperation in light of its own remarkable development experience.

All in all, we have a busy, wide-ranging agenda ahead of us. I am looking forward to hearing the views of many of the stakeholders here. I fully realize the key role that media plays in carrying the information from this Annual Meeting to audiences far beyond Jeju Island.

I am sure that Mr. Salamon and his staff will do whatever they can to make your stay here a productive one. I wish you a very fruitful, enjoyable and successful Annual Meeting.

Thank you.