MANILA, PHILIPPINES (8 July 2021) — Bilateral, multilateral, and private sector partners joined the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) rapid response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2020 through record high cofinancing of $16.4 billion.
“Since early 2020, ADB has been working intensely with our partners to help our developing member countries respond to the unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said today at the launch of the ADB Partnership Report 2020: Responsive Partners, Resilient Communities. “Looking ahead, we will need to focus our support on ensuring a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery as the pandemic recedes. This will involve support to countries so that they can pursue low-carbon development trajectories and address job losses and increased inequalities due to the pandemic, including the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women and girls.”
From the earliest stages of the pandemic, ADB has assisted its developing member countries’ response. In April 2020, ADB announced a $20 billion package of assistance and designed new delivery tools that allowed partners to contribute to budget support critically needed by governments. In addition, some partners redirected previously committed funds to COVID-19-related operations.
Cofinancing for sovereign operations reached $11.1 billion in 2020, more than double 2019’s $5.4 billion, according to the partnership report. Three quarters, or $8.2 billion, of sovereign cofinancing was directed at the pandemic response. Nonsovereign, or private sector, cofinancing amounted to $5.3 billion in 2020, with short-term operations such as supply chain and trade finance support accounting for $3.1 billion. The pandemic response attracted $2.6 billion of nonsovereign cofinancing.
The Partnership Report 2020 details ADB's work with more than 50 financing partners on more than 200 projects and illustrates how these collaborations aligned with, and contributed to, the seven operational priorities of ADB’s Strategy 2030. The report features stories and videos of current and concluded projects that are helping to improve millions of lives in Asia and the Pacific.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
