ADB meeting ends with upbeat note on forecasts of recovery
ADB meeting ends with upbeat note on forecasts of recovery
Agence France-Presse, Shanghai
The annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank closed here Sunday on an optimistic note with financial officials from around the region predicting a strong recovery in 2002.
With the United States economic engine gathering steam delegates from South Korea to the Philippines said their economies were also heading towards stronger growth.
"The regional economy is showing resilience. In fact, many developing member countries are achieving faster economic recovery that we had anticipated earlier," said ADB president Tadao China in his closing address.
Also on the agenda for 3,300 delegates gathered in Shanghai for the meeting were the reconstruction of Afghanistan's war- shattered economy, regional poverty alleviation and tightening of the ADB's project supervision.
Indonesian Minister of Finance Boediono said the country has "turned the corner" in its recovery from the crisis that began in 1997.
"With improvements in political stability, security and economic reforms, a virtuous circle is forming," he said.
Boediono said the country would top the 3.3 percent growth it achieved in 2001 and that foreign investor confidence was growing.
Meanwhile South Korea, which was forced to raise interest rates earlier this week to cool the economy, was also "back on the road to recovery after years of restructuring and sound management of macroeconomic policies," Finance and Economy Minister Jeon Yun-Churl said.
The Philippines, Malaysia, and even Pakistan all predicted stronger economic growth in 2002 than the previous year, although the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the reconstruction of Afghanistan were key issues.
China said the ADB would play a leading role in Afghanistan's redevelopment and had committed US$500 million over the next two and a half years, including $200 million in the next 12 months.
The money would be spent on training government ministers and building up human resources, as well as on pilot projects for agriculture, irrigation, roads, health and schools, he added.
However, one sour note was the bank's poor handling of the controversial $750 million Samut Prakarn waste water treatment plant in Thailand.
Findings of an inspection panel which concluded the ADB had failed to live up to its own guidelines on environmental and social impact on the project called the bank's project supervision and accountability into question.
China said the bank was reviewing the inspection function and would bring in external advisors to reform the process, allowing the public to better express their grievances to the bank.