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Focused Effort Needed to Address SARS - ADB President

Beijing, People's Republic of China (13 May 2003) - The outbreak of SARS has caused pervasive impacts across many sectors and is causing significant economic disruption, ADB President Chino told a conference here today.

Mr. Chino said that he considers SARS to be an important and urgent development issue, and emphasized the importance of focused efforts to minimize adverse impacts of the disease. He also said that cooperation among governments, the private sector and international organizations is essential.

Mr. Chino made his remarks in a video presentation at a conference organized by ADB and the Boao Forum for Asia on the theme SARS and Asia's Economy: Impacts and Policy Recommendations. ADB is preparing grant-funded technical assistance for various projects to help member countries address SARS.

Mr. Chino said that technical assistance grants, country-specific as well as regional, may be available to key developing member country partners such as Ministries of Health, local health authorities, NGOs, and regional organizations.

ADB's support may cover areas such as public health surveillance, training and institutional capacity building, information and education campaigns, and emergency provisions of public health material and supplies.

The unexpected and worldwide spread of SARS has had a substantial impact on the world economy, and Asian economies in particular. Governments, international organizations and the private sector have been closely following the situation.

The conference, the first to be held in People's Republic of China since the outbreak of SARS, aims to assess the short- to medium-term economic impacts of SARS on Asian economies and provide policy recommendations on how to minimize the adverse impacts of SARS through regional cooperation and participation with the private sector and NGOs.

Conference invitees include Mr. Homi Kharas, Chief Economist of East Asia, the World Bank, Dr. Ifzal Ali, Chief Economist of ADB, ASEAN General Secretary, UNDP Representative; representatives from investment banks, including Mr. Antie Xie, Chief Economist of Asia Pacific region, Morgan Stanley, Mr. Cai Jinyong, Managing Director of Golden Sachs, Chen Xingdong, Chief Representatives , BNP Paribas, Mr. Hu Angang, Qinghua University and Mr. Lin Yifu, Peking University and other China economists.

Full text of ADB President Tadao Chino's speech.

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