ADB gives priority to infrastructure investment in its Strategy 2030

Kathmandu, July 27:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has introduced its Strategy 2030 – a new long-term strategy of the multilateral financial institution – prioritising sustainable and inclusive infrastructure investments.

“Infrastructure investments – particularly those that are green, sustainable, inclusive and resilient – will remain a key priority. At the same time, ADB will expand operations in social sectors, such as education, health and social protection,” said the bank on Thursday.

ADB’s Board of Directors has approved the strategy which sets out the institution’s broad vision and strategic response to the evolving needs of Asia and the Pacific.

According to the bank, its support will focus on seven operational areas – reducing poverty and inequalities, gender equality, tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience and environment sustainability, urban development, rural development and food security, strengthening governance and institutional capacity and regional cooperation and integration.

“Asia and the Pacific have made great progress over the last half century in poverty reduction and economic growth, but there are unfinished development agendas,” said ADB president Takehiko Nakao.

“Under Strategy 2030, we will combine finance, knowledge, and partnerships to sustain our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and expand our vision towards a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable region,” he added.

ADB’s aspirations are aligned with major global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Financing for Development agenda, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Given the size of Asia and the Pacific, achieving such commitments will depend critically on the region’s success, said Nakao.

ADB said that it would strengthen its country-focused approach, promote the use of innovative technologies, and deliver integrated interventions that combine expertise across a range of sectors and themes and through a mix of public and private sector operations.

 “ADB will continue to prioritise support for the region’s poorest and most vulnerable countries. It will apply differentiated approaches to meet the diverse needs of various groups of countries: fragile and conflict-affected situations, small island developing states, low-income and lower middle-income countries, and upper middle-income countries,” it said.

To support the seven operational priorities under Strategy 2030, ADB will expand and diversify its private sector operations to reach one third of ADB operations in number by 2024.

“We will expand our private sector operations in new and frontier markets, such as fragile and conflict-affected situations and small island developing states. We will also support more public-private partnerships,” said Nakao.

ADB targets a substantial increase in long-term co-financing by 2030, with every $1 in financing for its private sector operations matched by $2.50 in long-term co-financing.  

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 July 2018.