Address to the Board of Governors 57th ADB Annual Meeting Business Session - Masatsugu Asakawa

Address by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, to the Board of Governors Business Session, at the 57th Annual Meeting, 5 May 2024, Tbilisi, Georgia

Introduction

Members of the Board of Governors:

Welcome to this Business Session of ADB’s Annual Meeting. I thank the Chair of our Board of Governors, His Excellency Lasha Khutsishvili, and the Government of Georgia for hosting our meetings this year.

Let me start by saying that the outlook for Asia and the Pacific remains solid. However, over the past year, our developing member countries (DMCs) have confronted the growing challenges of climate change, conflict, food insecurity, and increased debt.

The climate crisis in particular threatens the region’s development. 2023 was the warmest year on record. Last year also saw disasters, many from natural hazards, affect about 44 million people in Asia and the Pacific.

At the last Annual Meeting, I said that ADB is actively evolving its mission to better support our developing member countries as they deal with these challenges.

ADB’s major capital management reforms from the past year unlocked up to $100 billion in new lending capacity for the next decade.  Similarly, our new operating model (NOM) has enabled us to deliver better, faster, and more tailored support to our developing member countries.

More broadly, our performance last year demonstrated strong progress in areas that are key to achieving our priorities. Let me summarize.

I. ADB Operations in 2023

ADB committed $23.6 billion in loans, grants, guarantees, equity investments, and technical assistance in 2023, a 15% increase from the previous year. This included a record $9.8 billion in climate finance from ADB’s own resources, representing 41.5 % of our total commitments.

ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department committed $3.8 billion for non-sovereign operations, with a significant increase in lending for frontier economies. ADB met its corporate financing targets for health, gender, and education, and we are on track to meet our ambition for food security financing.

Asian Development Fund commitments reached $721 million in 2023, and we project this to increase to $865 million in 2024. ADB also introduced favorable concessional lending terms to small island developing members.

ADB launched the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, a landmark guarantee mechanism to scale up the region’s climate investment. At the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, we unveiled our Climate Change Action Plan for 2023-2030. This will guide support to our DMCs in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions and mobilize finance to help countries transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies.

II. Meeting the region’s evolving needs

We also have important efforts on the horizon.

This year, ADB will use the Strategy 2030 midterm review, and the Corporate Results Framework for 2025-2030, to learn and continue to evolve our support to clients. ADB will effectively and efficiently use its newly expanded lending capacity to support key priorities, along with our members most in need.

ADB’s new operating model will continue to emphasize climate action and private sector development. To advance our shifts under the new operating model, and ensure accountability, we will also introduce new ways of working. These include new digital tools, regional work programs, and corporate performance indicators.

We will finalize the fourteenth replenishment of the Asian Development Fund. This will allow us to support the region’s poorest and most vulnerable countries until 2028. I am grateful for the generous pledges that donors made here in Tbilisi toward this replenishment.

With our focus on these key directions, I am confident that ADB will remain equipped to support the people of the region in a rapidly changing global and regional landscape.

Closing

Let me close by saying how proud I am of our ability to evolve and work together to meet new challenges. Governors, I very much appreciate your ongoing support and guidance.

ADB looks forward to our continued collaboration to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific.