Asian Development Bank
Media
Part of Panorama
- Title
- Asian Development Bank
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1966
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Preparations for the estab lishment of an Asian Dev elopment Bank are approach ing their final stage. The Charter of the $1,000m. Bank has been examined, dis cussed, and revised, para graph by paragraph, by se nior government officials from 31 Asian and non-Asian countries. Manila is chosen for its principal office. Operations of the Bank are expected to begin about the middle of 1966. Main functions are-. To promote investment in the region of. public and private capital for develop ment purposes; To utilize the resources at its disposal for financing dev elopment of the developing member countries in the re gion, giving priority to those regional, sub-regional, as well as national projects and pro grammes which will contri bute most effectively to the harmonious economic growth of the region as a whole, and having special regard to the needs of the smaller or lessdeveloped member countries in the region; To meet requests from member countries in the re gion for assistance in the co ordination of their develop ment policies and plans with a view to achieving better utilization of their resources; To provide technical assis tance for the preparation, financing, and execution of development projects and programmes, including the formulation of specific pro ject proposals. Initial capital is $l,000m. Asian member countries will subscribe 60 per cent.; the other 40 per cent, is expected to come from non-Asian developed countries. Lack of investment capital has hampered economic dev elopment. It is one of the main reasons why the gap between the poor and rich countries has widened rather than narrowed. The A.D.B. is yet another attempt to solve the problem. 36 Panorama