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p. 3 of 22 BACK | NEXT Introduction List of Participants Welcoming Remarks Emerging Trends and Issues in Legal and Judicial Reform in Development Bank Legal Frameworks for Private Sector Development in the Asia Pacific Region Legal Frameworks for Private Sector Development of Infrastructure in the Asia Pacific Region Collateral Security Reforms Panel Presentations and Discussion Governance: Sound Development Management Strengthening Judicial Institutions Training of Government Lawyers and Judges Lessons Learned: Legal Reform and Technical Assistance 1960-95 Panel Representation and Discussion An Introduction to Project DIAL Concluding Remarks Country Statements

Roundtable Meeting of Chief Justices and Ministers of Justice

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Welcoming Remarks

On behalf of President Mitsuo Sato and the Asian Development Bank, I am pleased to welcome you to the Roundtable Meeting of Chief Justices and Ministers of Justice to address the subject of "Legal and Judicial Reform in Asia: Agenda for the New Millennium".

It is a particular pleasure to welcome you to the Bank, since this is an institution owned by the member countries which you serve. The Bank is owned by 56 member countries, of which 40 are members from the Asian and Pacific region and 16 are developed member countries from Europe and North America. Its lending, investment and technical assistance activities in its Asian and Pacific member countries last year totalled US$5.8 billion This involved approximately 83 public and private sector loans, 10 private sector equity investments and 286 technical assistance operations.

This Roundtable Meeting convenes at an important time. Throughout our region legal and judicial reform is on the agenda of member countries as it has never been before. The movement toward economic liberalization throughout the region has underscored the importance of these reforms. Among the lessons learned from the successful development experience of Japan, Korea, Taipei,China, Hong Kong and Singapore is the importance of the private sector to sustained economic growth and the importance of an effective dialogue between government and the private sector. A related lesson of this so-called "East Asia Miracle" is the importance of effective governance, that is, the existence of reasonably efficient governmental institutions engaged in the formulation and enforcement of economic development policies.

Throughout the region governments are promulgating new and updated legislation, especially economic legislation, are strengthening legal education, and are renovating judicial and legislative institutions. My own educational background is as an historian and economist, not as a lawyer. From my perspective outside the legal profession, I note that the current wave of legal and judicial reform in the Asian and Pacific region is "demand driven". I am not surprised. While the legal community, including government lawyers, has been responsive, the impetus of such legal and judicial reform has come from bankers, business people, economists and development specialists who increasingly see the legal and judicial systems positively as making an essential contribution to development of a market economy. Both markets and public society benefit from the rule of law and regular administrative procedures, which is not a surprise for a former historian and civil servant.

The Asian Development Bank has been pleased to work with member governments in support of such strategic legal and judicial reforms. While the Bank has provided modest technical assistance to its borrowers on legal subjects since its establishment in 1966, such assistance has increased dramatically in recent years. It is a response to the quickening pace of legal and judicial reform in your countries. It also reflects the growing recognition in the development assistance community of the importance of law to the development of market economies and to the effective functioning of government institutions. During 1996, in addition to the legal components in the Bank's project and program work, the Bank undertook, continued or completed work in 22 of its developing member countries on 90 law-related technical assistance operations covering a wide range of economic and social sectors and a wide range of individual subjects.

The Bank's assistance to its member countries on legal and judicial subjects --- often referred to as "Law and Development" --- is part of the Bank's larger commitment to Governance programming. It follows the adoption by the Bank's Board of Directors in August 1995 of a policy on Governance: Sound Development Management. The Asian Development Bank is the first multilateral bank to have adopted such a policy. Our policy emphasizes the importance of transparency, predictability, opportunities for public participation, and accountability as elements of the sound management of policies. It recognizes the role of law and legal institutions in achieving such objectives.

As an area in which the Bank's activities have increased in recent years, we look forward to today's Roundtable Meeting as an opportunity to obtain the benefit of your perspectives on the directions in which legal and judicial reform are moving in the
region and on the directions which the Bank's programming might take.

I wish you successful discussions and a fruitful Roundtable Meeting. I look forward to hearing the results of your deliberations

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