Closing remarks by ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda at the First ADF XI Replenishment Meeting on 9 September 2011 in ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines
Madame Chair, Ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to thank each of you for the views you have expressed over the past few days. We had good discussions on the strategic priorities the Asian Development Fund should pursue over the ADF XI period.
I am very pleased that many of you have recognized the performance of ADF so far, and our achievements in improving our operational and institutional effectiveness. We will continue to strive to become a more effective institution and report on our progress in a transparent way through various means including the Development Effectiveness Review process.
I also appreciate your endorsement of the proposed priorities for ADF XI, which are aligned with Strategy 2020. Poverty reduction remains the key mandate of ADF. At the same time, we recognize that in ADF countries we need to pay particular attention to gender, climate change, fragile and conflict-affected situations and food security.
ADB's inclusive growth agenda is of paramount importance to ADF countries. Several among you requested us to clarify how ADB approaches inclusive growth and operationalizes its concept. We will prepare a follow-up paper on this topic that will be presented to you in the next meeting.
I also agree with you that capacity development and governance, including transparency and accountability are critically important in the ADF context. We will continue to focus on these themes during ADF XI.
I recognize that these are uncertain financial times for some of you. Based on the useful discussions on the financial issues, I am requesting my staff to conduct further analysis. We will make sure to put forward a realistic but sufficiently ambitious financial framework in the next meeting.
Thank you again for your constructive comments and suggestions. They provide invaluable guidance for us to work towards a successful ADF XI replenishment.
Ladies and Gentlemen, before you return home, I would like to share one final thought with you. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, these continue to be challenging times for our ADF countries. I appreciate that you have recognized these challenges, and the important role that ADF plays in addressing them. We have an ambitious but achievable agenda of pursuing economic growth and poverty reduction in ADF countries. But we cannot achieve this alone. We need your continued support and generous contributions to ADF XI to help shape the future of these countries.
I wish all of you a safe and pleasant trip back home and I look forward to meeting you again in Dhaka in December for our second meeting.
Thank you.