What is the full form of ADB

ADB: Asian Development Bank

ADB stands for Asian Development Bank. It is a regional development bank that is Asian in character. It was established to reduce poverty and foster economic growth and cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. It assists in the socioeconomic development of member countries by providing loans, grants and technical assistance. It has 67 members, 48 of which are from Asia and the Pacific region. It is headquartered in Mandaluyong, Philippines and as of July 2017, Takehiko Nakao is the president of ADB.

Areas of Focus

ADB operations give emphasis on the following areas:

• Infrastructure
• Environment
• Education
• Regional integration
• Finance Sector development
• Climate Change

By funding initiatives in fields like education and health, the ADB seeks to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth while also assisting in the development of the capital markets and corporate infrastructure in its target nations. There are other, more specialised sectors as well, which are used in secondary capacity-building programmes. Examples include Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), Information Technology, Regional Cooperation and Integration, etc.

Brief History

• The idea of the Asian Development Bank was conceived in the early 1960s. Later, a resolution was passed at the first Ministerial Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation in 1963 to establish the ADB.
• On 19 December 1966, ADB was established with 31 members and Takeshi Watanabe as its first President. In the beginning, ADB was focused on food production and rural development.
• In 1970, ADB's first bond issue worth $16.7 million was issued in Japan.
• In 1974, Asian Development Fund was established to provide low-interest loans to the poorest member countries.
• In 1982, it opened its first field office in Bangladesh to come closer to the people in need.
• In mid-1997, during a severe financial crisis in the region, it started projects to strengthen the financial sector, i.e., it approved its largest single loan worth $ 4 billion to the Republic of Korea.
• In 2004, it spent more than $800 million on the recovery of areas hit by the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Maldives.
• In 2008, it launched a new long-term strategy framework 'Strategy 2020' to respond to the changing needs of the region.
• In 2014, a midterm review of the "Strategy 2020" was released and various organizational changes were introduced to improve the business processes and to become stronger and better.

The Functions of the Asian Development Bank:

The Asian Development Bank provides grants, loans, technical assistance, and equity investments to its developing member countries, the private sector, and public-private partnerships in order to boost development. The ADB frequently promotes policy discussions and offers consulting services. Additionally, they make use of co-financing initiatives that draw on official, commercial, and export finance sources while offering assistance.

The ADB is open to members and associate members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. It is also open to developing nations that are members of the United Nations or any of its specialised agencies, including other regional nations and non-regional nations.

Asian Development Bank Organisational Chart

The website of ADB claims that "The Board of Governors holds all of the institution's functions, which are delegated in part to the Board of Directors by the Agreement Establishing the Asian Development Bank, or ADB Charter. The Board of Governors holds a conventional gathering once every year during ADB's Annual Meeting. "

The ADB's essential policy-making body is the Board of Governors, which comprises one delegate from every part.

The Asian Development Bank's two largest shareholders are the United States and Japan. Despite coming primarily from the Asia-Pacific area, the developed countries are also well-represented among the Bank's members. Typically, regional development banks work together on projects with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Asian Development Bank is controlled by whom?

A board of governors that represents the ADB's member nations oversees the organisation. The top five shareholders of the ADB as of 2022 are the People's Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), Australia (5.8%), Japan (15.6% each), and the United States.