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Thank you, and good afternoon to all of you. I would like to congratulate ADB staff for producing a high-quality product that will raise the profile of critical development challenges in Asia and the Pacific.
Climate change, the focus of the first issue of Development Asia, is one such challenge. While obviously a matter of grave concern throughout the world, climate change holds specific implications for Asia, where greenhouse gas emissions are rising dramatically alongside rapid growth.
The region is also highly vulnerable to the already unavoidable impacts of climate change. And it is the poor who are expected to suffer the most.
As a knowledge institution, ADB is committed to increasing awareness of Asia's development challenges and encouraging innovative solutions from around the globe. Development Asia is part of this effort.
It also adds a new and more public face to ADB's knowledge-related services. We produce substantial studies, books, reports, and online updates on a wide range of development-related topics. The aim of Development Asia is to bring the substance of these papers to a broader audience, and to encourage more discussion of their findings and implications. Among its other goals is to remain editorially independent, while drawing on more than 40 years of ADB experience and expertise in developing Asia and the Pacific.
I would like to thank the contributors to this inaugural edition, and to encourage all of you to send us your feedback. We look forward to bringing you informed, thoughtful news and views on the numerous other development challenges facing Asia and the Pacific in the months and years ahead.