New Year shakeup planned for Asian Development Bank
New Year shakeup planned for Asian Development Bank
P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse, Manila
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to undergo one of the biggest revamps in its 35-year history as part of a vociferous campaign by the multilateral institution to free the region of poverty, bank officials said.
The organizational structure of the Manila-based bank will be realigned for greater accountability and efficiency with a new "watchdog" department introduced as part of changes to be introduced on Jan. 1, they said.
"The thrust of the new organizational structure is to bring the bank closer to developing member countries and beef up efficiency to better accomplish our overarching goal -- poverty reduction," Ann Quon, ADB's assistant chief of external relations, told AFP.
The Asia-Pacific region houses the majority of the world's poor and disadvantaged.
Quon said five new regional departments would be introduced to cater to the bank's Asia-Pacific membership, replacing the current practice of breaking up the region into what the bank termed as the East and West.
The new departments will cover defined geographic areas -- East and Central Asia, Mekong, Pacific, South Asia and Southeast Asia -- and report to the bank's operational vice-presidents.
"With more departments covering fewer countries, there will be greater country focus and sub-regional cooperation," Quon said.
"Broad-based issues such as poverty reduction, good governance and strengthening of public sector capacity require a countrywide approach," she explained.
Quon said as poverty was a complex problem, deeply embedded in the political, governance and social frameworks of a country, ADB wanted to tackle it in an "integrated, cross-sectoral manner."
The ADB would also establish a new department to develop and monitor sector-based policies and guidelines as well as be responsible for the bank's regional cooperation strategy.
The new regional and sustainable development department will, among others, act as a watchdog and will monitor compliance with all sector policies.
The ADB will also upgrade its unit dealing with the private sector, with its responsibility covering, among other areas, project finance, capital markets, investment funds management and risk management.
ADB president Tadao Chino had chaired a panel of senior bank staff in conducting the revamp with help from external advisers, including from the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Experts say some of the weaknesses in the ADB are in the areas of project implementation, training and risk management as well as lack of in-depth analysis and consultations with key stakeholders of projects.
The bank has also been criticized for not working closely enough with groups like the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in promoting regional cooperation.
The ADB, set up in 1966, provides finance and technical assistance to developing member countries as part of its broad policy to eradicate poverty.
The bank has 59 member economies, of which 43 are in the Asia- Pacific.
Its loans typically involve conditions aimed at improving development performance. Last year, ADB approved provided loans totaling about US$6 billion.