Asian Development Bank

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Thematic Focus
• Strategy
• Achievements

Overview

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Established in 1966, the ADB provides loans, technical assistance and grants to its developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific. It is the third largest provider of development finance in the region.

Canada is a founding member of the ADB, which has 67 country members. Canada is the fifth largest shareholder and sits on the 12-member Board of Directors.

CIDA leads Canada's day-to-day relations with the ADB, in close consultation with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and Finance Canada.

Through CIDA, Canada also contributes to the Asian Development Fund (ADF) which provides grants and low-interest loans to the region's poorest countries. CIDA has also contributed to trust funds in areas such as equality between women and men, results-based management, climate change, and avian flu prevention. CIDA works with ADB on country-specific initiatives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Thematic Focus

The ADB's long-term strategic framework for 2008-2020, Strategy 2020 (PDF, 499 KB, 43 pages), closely aligns with two of CIDA's priority themes: stimulating sustainable economic growth and securing the future of children and youth.

Economic growth

The ADB's focus on inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable green growth, and regional integration makes it a key multilateral partner for CIDA in stimulating sustainable economic growth in developing countries in Asia.

Children and youth

The ADB's programming in education throughout Asia aligns with CIDA's focus on securing a future for children and youth.

CIDA's Strategy for Working with the ADB

CIDA's work with the ADB focuses on three strategic objectives:

1. Encouraging an effective response to the short- and long-term effects of the global financial crisis in its member countries, especially for the poor and vulnerable as well as for emerging economies
2. Strengthening ADB program development and implementation in CIDA's countries of focus, particularly in fragile states such as Afghanistan and Pakistan
3. Supporting ADB's increased institutional effectiveness through more open management, stronger delegation and more modern human resource practices

Achievements

Between 2009 and 2011, with the support of CIDA and other donors, the ADB and ADF have helped:

• Connect almost 1 million new households to electricity
• Install or upgrade 25,000 kilometres of energy transmission lines and 68,200 kilometres of distribution lines
• Build or upgrade 39,700 kilometres of roads and 3,400 kilometres of railways, benefitting almost 195 million people
• Provide more than 4.5 million households with new water supply and 6.4 million with new sanitation services
• Install or upgrade 15,800 kilometres of pipes supplying water
• Provide school improvement programs, which included building or upgrading 67,600 classrooms and training more than 1 million teachers, benefitting 25.5 million students
• Open or maintain some 2.4 million microfinance accounts and almost 482,500 small and medium sized enterprise loan accounts
• Improve more than 3 million hectares of land through irrigation services, drainage and flood management
• Reduce 10 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year

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