ADB marks half century of helping Asia region
TOKYO - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has led the region’s developing countries to more dynamic and freer economies over the past 50 years, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said, stressing the importance of the role the bank continues to play in a world witnessing growing demand for infrastructure projects, especially in Asia, where China’s “One Belt, One Road” policy is garnering attention.
Nakao spoke exclusively with The Japan News ahead of the ADB’s 50th annual meeting scheduled for May 4-7 in Yokohama.
Nakao, the ninth president of the ADB, summarized the difference between his organization and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, established in 2015, by explaining that the ADB has functioned as a body that goes beyond promoting infrastructure by encouraging development, poverty reduction, better education and health, and open trade and investment regimes alongside other international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.
“The AIIB will more likely focus on investment in infrastructure,” he said. The AIIB is known for not establishing a permanent board or branch offices focused on development in countries in which it operates.
The ADB, led by Japan and the United States, was established in 1966.
“Then, Asia was vastly poor,” Nakao said in a telephone interview. “The region’s combined annual per capita gross domestic product — not including those of Japan, Australia and New Zealand — was below the level of sub-Saharan African countries. Asia’s already huge population was further growing at an alarming speed, making food shortages and malnutrition the most pressing issues of the region.”
Half a century on, Asia’s GDP makes up about one-third of the world economy, with an annual growth rate of around 6 percent. The ADB’s latest Asian Development Outlook report forecasts Asia’s developing economies will expand by 5.7 percent this year and expects they will continue to grow at a solid pace.
“If the region keeps its pace for the next 10 years, the region’s wealth will be about twice the current size,” he said.
