Corporate and Thematic Evaluation

The evaluation assessed the performance and results of ADB support for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program during 2012–2020. In particular, the evaluation assessed the GMS Program as an instrument to achieve the subregion’s 3-C strategic objectives of connectivity, competitiveness, and community and the extent to which ADB inputs as the GMS Secretariat and its projects, programs and technical assistance have contributed to achieving these strategic objectives. The findings, issues, lessons, and recommendations of the evaluation will feed into the implementation of the new GMS-2030 and the formulation of its results framework and Regional Investment Framework-2025.

The last decade has been profound for climate impacts in the Asia and Pacific region and globally, bringing home the reality of the climate crisis. For many of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) developing member countries (DMCs), and the Pacific and atoll nations in particular, the climate crisis poses an existential threat. The 6th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the globe, with heavy precipitation and associated flooding projected to intensify and be more frequent in most regions in Asia, reinforcing the need for greater efforts on adaptation and increasing the region’s resilience. Compounding these challenges is the immediate crisis of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

With increased urbanization, an acceleration in the pace of economic change, and increased demands on government budgets, growing infrastructure deficits have emerged in many of Asian Development Bank (ADB) developing member countries (DMCs). Due to both historical underinvestment and poor maintenance of existing infrastructure assets, new solutions are being sought as countries seek to attract the private sector to address this infrastructure investment gap.

In 1966, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was created to foster economic growth and cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. The past five decades have seen remarkable progress in this endeavor, with economic growth leading to a precipitous drop in poverty in Asia and the Pacific. Most developing member countries have now left low-income status.

As a result of this extraordinary transformation, ADB’s public- and private-sector partners are becoming more sophisticated and demanding. For ADB to maintain its relevance, it must address these demands by accelerating its evolution. ADB’s new strategy, Strategy 2030, is quite explicit in recognizing the challenge. It places a heavy emphasis on ADB providing value addition through greater integration of knowledge in its financial support.

The Asia and the Pacific region has experienced tremendous economic growth and progress towards poverty reduction; however, this remains associated with serious and increasingly complex social and environmental challenges including global challenges. Protecting the environment and people from widening inequalities, including increased vulnerabilities due to climate change events and acute impacts from climate induced disasters, is more important than ever.

The multitranche financing facility (MFF) was introduced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2005 in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis when ADB lending had stagnated because of both supply constraints and weak demand. At the time, member countries were concerned about the high costs of ADB lending, limited choice of instruments, and the perception that there was a deteriorating quality of service associated with ADB financing. The MFF was seen as a key financing innovation that would make ADB more responsive, efficient, and able to deliver results on the ground over an extended period of time. By the end of 2018, ADB had provided over $52 billion through 105 MFF programs to 16 member countries, almost one third of ADB’s total sovereign financing during the period.

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) concessional finance window, the Asian Development Fund, is approaching 50 years of existence. Over that time, it has allocated funding to the poorest countries in Asia and the Pacific, rewarded good performance, and provided exceptional support to the region’s smallest countries as well as those affected by fragility and conflict. It has added finance for specific development objectives for regional and global public goods and crisis response and introduced grants to help countries suffering debt distress. Used in this way, concessional resources have contributed to ADB’s long-term development goal of poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific.

Equity is an important financial instrument in the development of the private sector. It helps foster good corporate governance, risk management, and the adoption of environmental and social standards in private enterprises through demonstration effects that have an effect well beyond the targeted companies. Equity support that culminates in a successful initial public offering (IPO) may also contribute to broadening the financial capital markets in the country. Thus, governments and development agencies are spending significant public resources to support equity investments that contribute to the creation of economic wealth, enhance development, and reduce poverty.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recognizes the importance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to its developing member countries, and the need to support the strengthening of their governance, mitigate their fiscal impact, improve their operational efficiency and commercial viability, and improve consumers’ access to quality and affordable services.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of many developing economies in the world. Given their substantial share in national employment and gross domestic product, policy makers and development practitioners perceive them as major instruments for poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth. At the same time, while research is not conclusive on the matter, policy makers often note that multiple policy and market failures disproportionately hinder their productive participation in market activity. Against this backdrop, governments and development agencies are spending significant public resources to support SMEs in contributing more fully to economic wealth and development.