Publications

	Table of Contents
p. 1 of 5 BACK | NEXT ADB: A Natural Partner Regionalization in a Global Context Dimensions of Regional Cooperation Economic Cooperation Initiatives Conclusion

Empowering Nations Through Regional Cooperation

---

ADB: A Natural Partner

ADB has long recognized the value of regional cooperation for individual nations and the Asian and Pacific region as a whole. In its 1966 Charter, ADB cited economic cooperation as a means for achieving a more efficient use of regional resources, making economies more complementary, and promoting the orderly expansion of foreign trade, in particular, intraregional trade. In 1994, ADB approved a policy that formalized its role as a catalyst for regional cooperation. And more recently, ADB’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Long-Term Strategic Framework (LTSF) 2001–2015 formally identified regional cooperation as a core component in the agenda for reducing poverty.

Its location and policy framework position ADB for maximum impact in bringing nations together. Its over 35 years experience in development work—loan projects, sector studies, and technical assistance—provide the foundation for linking national sector development programs to crossborder regional projects. This foundation was strengthened in 2001 when ADB’s new organizational structure—which mirrors the Asian and Pacific region’s major geographical subregions¹ — was approved. The programming, processing, and delivery of all ADB development activities are now within regional departments; ADB can help its developing member countries (DMCs) plan and manage regional cooperation initiatives as part of each regional department’s aggregate operational program.

Being positioned to catalyze cooperation is key, but several other factors also contribute to ADB’s comparative advantage in the field, the most important being the mandate of the participating DMCs. In each regional and subregional cooperation initiative, the DMCs themselves proposed the programs ADB launched. The countries recognized the potential economic and social benefits of cooperation, and provided the political will to ensure effective implementation. ADB, in the role of an honest broker, brought the initiatives together.

ADB has promoted several regional and subregional cooperation initiatives over the years. The oldest and perhaps best known by the development community is the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) program which combines the individual strengths of six countries—Cambodia, People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Other important initiatives include the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) initiative, and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) initiative. In addition, ADB has long promoted the grouping of 12 Pacific DMCs, and is now also supporting a new regional cooperation initiative between the PRC and Mongolia.

As poverty reduction in the Asian and Pacific region is ADB’s overarching goal in all its operations, interventions within regional cooperation are focused on those areas with the most widespread poverty. The most stark example is the South Asian initiative, which covers a subregion of over half of Asia’s poor, or about 500 million people living on less than a dollar a day.

____________________

Back Empowering Nations Through Regional Cooperation	Next Regionalization in a Global Context