ADB 56th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors to begin in Incheon today
Korea: The 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be held in Incheon, from May 2-5, 2023.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry will attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is expected to address the Governor’s Business Sessions on May 4, 2023, and engage in bilateral talks with counterparts of several other countries on the sidelines of the event, to discuss Sri Lanka’s ongoing engagements for economic revival.
Sri Lanka is a founding member of ADB and to date, ADB has committed 482 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totalling $11.2 billion to Sri Lanka. The meeting is expected to bring together about 5,000 participants, including finance ministers and central bank governors from ADB member countries, officials from international organizations, representatives from the private sector, civil society organizations, and the media. It will provide momentum in deepening mutual understanding and economic cooperation between Korea and economies in the Asia-Pacific region a step further.
Meanwhile, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa discussed ADB’s economic outlook for Asia and the Pacific and challenges for the region, including food security, climate change, and dealing with external shocks participating in a curtain raiser interview with Zeinab Badawi, International Broadcaster ahead of the Annual Meeting of ADB.
He outlined the various reforms that ADB is undertaking to promote innovative climate financing, expand its lending capacity, and introduce a new operating model to better meet the needs of developing member countries and said the economic growth of Asia in 2022 last year was 4.2% down from 7.2% in 2021 and this year the ADB predicts it around 4.8%. He said the region needs to address hunger issues, especially for the poor and vulnerable urgently while developing long-term solutions to improve food security issues to that end.
Asakawa said the ADB announced a $14 billion financial package in September last year, which included both short-term and long-term measures. And short-term measures included very quick disbursing of budget financing through the CSF (Countercyclical Support Facility) to support the region’s developing member countries (DMCs) to provide food and necessities urgently for the vulnerable and poor. And their long-term major measures include investment in the agriculture sector to make the agricultural system in the DMCs more robust and resilient through climate, smart agriculture, nature-based solution and further utilization of digital technology, including supply chains.
He said the Chinese, economy declined sharply from 8.4% in 2021 to j 3% in 2022 mainly due to the very stringent zero corona policy and some challenges they were facing in the property sector, but now they have existed from zero corona policy and the ADB predict a 5% growth rate this year in China.