The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established in 1966 to promote economic and social development in Asian and Pacific countries through loans and technical assistance.It is a multilateral development financial institution owned by 67 members, 48 from the region and 19 from other parts of the globe. ADB's vision is a region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their citizens. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

The work of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is not aimed at improving the welfare of the people in Asia and the Pacific, particularly the 1.9 billion who live on less than $2 a day. Despite many success stories, Asia and the Pacific remains home to two thirds of the world's poor.

The bank was founded as a regionally focused clone of the IBRD (World Bank), with the primary impetus coming from the US, Japan and Western European (especially Nordic and Germanic) governments. The bank has traditionally funded its lending activities by issuing supranational-rated bonds in the euromarkets. For many years the bank was the only Asia-ex Japan issuer of eurobonds. Although recent economic growth in many member countries have led to a change in emphasis to some degree, throughout most of its history the bank has operated on a project basis, specifically in the areas of infrastructure investment, agricultural development and loans to basic industries in member countries. Although by definition the bank is a lender to governments and government entities, it has also participated as a liquidity enhancer and best practice enabler in the private sectors of regional member countries. The primary human capital asset of the bank is its staff of professionals, encompassing academic and/or practical experts in the areas of agriculture, civil engineering, economics, public policy and finance. These professionals are drawn from all across the globe and given various incentives to relocate to Manila, including diplomatic status and tax-free incomes. It is conceivable that once all of Asia-Pacific reaches a certain level of living standard the bank will be wound down or reconfigured to operate as a commercial enterprise.

Organization

The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors composed of one representative from each member state. The Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the 12 members of the Board of Directors and their deputy. Eight of the 12 members come from regional (Asia-Pacific) members while the rest come from non-regional members.

The Board of Governors also elect the bank's President who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors and manages ADB. The president has a term of office lasting five years, and may be reelected. Traditionally, and because Japan is one of the largest shareholders of the bank, the President has always been Japanese. The current President is Haruhiko Kuroda.

The headquarters of the bank is at 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines, and it has representative offices around the world. The bank employs approximately 2,400 people, coming from 53 of its 66 member countries, and with more than half of the staff being Filipino. The City of Mandaluyong (Filipino: Lungsod ng Mandaluyong) is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila in the Philippines. ... Metropolitan Manila (Filipino: Kalakhang Maynila) or the National Capital Region (NCR) (Filipino: Pambansang Punong Rehiyon) is the greater metropolitan area of the city of Manila, the national capital and largest city in the Philippines. ...

Since 2004 the Asian Development Bank has been under corruption investigation by the United State Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

ADB Lending

ADB's annual project lending amounts to about US$7 billion per year with lending per project being in the $100 million range.

Notable ADB projects and Technical Assistance

• Afghan Diaspora Project
• Funding Utah State University led projects to bring labor skills in Thailand
• Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project in Indonesia
• Greater Mekong Subregional Program[2]
• PRC Ping Hu Offshore Oil and Gas Development
• Strategic Private Sector Partnerships for Urban Poverty Reduction in the Philippines
• Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline Feasibility Assessment

Utah State Universitys main campus is located in Logan, Utah. ... The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAP) is a proposed natural gas pipeline, being developed by the Asian Development Bank. ...

Effectiveness

All projects funded by the Asian Development Bank are evaluated to assess their development effectiveness. There are two levels of evaluation—self evaluation and independent evaluation. All projects are self-evaluated by the ADB operations department in a project completion report. ADB’s project completion reports are publicly disclosed and are available on ADB’s Internet site. Client governments are also required to prepare their own project completion reports. A proportion of completed projects is also evaluated by ADB’s Operations Evaluation Department (OED). This department reports directly to the Development Effectiveness Committee of ADB’s Board of Directors. It does not report to the Management of the ADB and so its reports are considered to be independent. All OED reports are publicly disclosed (some evaluations of private sector operations are redacted to protect commercially confidential information). The reports are available on OED’s website. Evaluation is carried out to facilitate learning from past successes and failures and for reasons of accountability.

Increasingly, OED evaluates ongoing operations (particularly in country and sector program evaluations) and conducts a range of special studies on thematic topics and ADB policies. Evaluations are conducted in accordance with guidelines and a conflict of interest policy.

Of the 980 ADB-funded projects evaluated and rated by OED (as of December 2005), 64% were assessed as being successful, 29% partly successful and 8% as unsuccessful.

Members

Names are as recognized by ADB.
The year after a member's name indicates the year of membership. The largest share holders of the ADB are Japan and USA, each holding 12.8% of the shares [3]. At the time a country ceases to be a member, the Bank shall arrange for the repurchase of such country's shares by the Bank as a part of the settlement of accounts with such country in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article.^[1]

Taiwan initially joined as "Republic of China" as a founding member representing the whole of China. However, its share of Bank capital was based on the size of Taiwan's capital, unlike the World Bank and IMF where the government in Taiwan had had a share representing the whole of China prior to the People's Republic of China joining and taking Taiwan's seat. In 1986, a compromise was effected when the People's Republic of China joined the institution. Taiwan was allowed to retain its membership, but under the name of Taipei, China — a name it protests. Uniquely, this allows both sides of the Taiwan Straits to be represented at the institution. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Asian and Pacific region
Afghanistan (1966) Australia (1966) Cambodia (1966) India (1966) Indonesia (1966) Japan (1966) Korea, Republic of (1966) Lao People's Democratic Republic (1966) Malaysia (1966) Nepal (1966) New Zealand (1966) Pakistan (1966) Philippines (1966) Samoa (1966) Singapore (1966) Sri Lanka (1966)	Republic of China[2] (1966) Thailand (1966) Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of (1966) Hong Kong, China[3] (1969) Fiji (1970) Papua New Guinea (1971) Tonga (1972) Bangladesh (1973) Myanmar (1973) Solomon Islands (1973) Kiribati (1974) Cook Islands (1976) Maldives (1978) Vanuatu (1981) Bhutan (1982) China, People's Republic of (1986)	Marshall Islands (1990) Micronesia, Federated States of (1990) Mongolia (1991) Nauru (1991) Tuvalu (1993) Kazakhstan (1994) Kyrgyz Republic (1994) Uzbekistan (1995) Tajikistan (1998) Azerbaijan (1999) Turkmenistan (2000) Timor-Leste (2002) Palau (2003) Armenia (2005) Brunei Darussalam (2006) Georgia (2007)
Other regions
Austria (1966) Belgium (1966) Canada (1966) Denmark (1966) Finland (1966) Germany[4] (1966) Italy (1966)	Netherlands (1966) Norway (1966) Sweden (1966) United Kingdom (1966) United States (1966) Switzerland (1967)	France (1970) Spain (1986) Turkey (1991) Portugal (2002) Luxembourg (2003) Ireland (2006)

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cambodia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_India. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Indonesia_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Korea_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Laos. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Malaysia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nepal. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Pakistan_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Philippines. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Samoa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Singapore_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sri_Lanka. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... Motto Three Principles of the People (三民主義 San-min Chu-i) Anthem National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital Taipei (de facto)  Nanking (de jure)1  Largest city Taipei Official languages Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Government Semi-presidential system  -  President Chen Shui-bian  -  Vice President Annette Lu  -  Premier Chang Chun-hsiung... Image File history File links Flag_of_Thailand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Vietnam. ... Motto Independence - Freedom - Happiness Capital Hanoi Largest city Ho Chi Minh City Official languages Vietnamese Government Socialist republic1  -  General Secretary  -  President  -  Prime Minister Independence  -  from China 938   -  from France September 2, 1945   -  Recognized 1954  Area  -  Total 331,689 km² (65th) 128,065 sq mi   -  Water (%) 1. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hong_Kong. ... Hong Kong (香港; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2; Yale: heūng góng; pinyin: Xiānggǎng; Wade-Giles: Hsiang-kang) is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Fiji. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Papua_New_Guinea. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Tonga. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bangladesh. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Myanmar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Solomon_Islands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Kiribati. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Cook_Islands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Maldives. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Vanuatu. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bhutan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Marshall_Islands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Micronesia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Mongolia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nauru. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Tuvalu. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Kazakhstan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Kyrgyzstan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uzbekistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Tajikistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkmenistan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_East_Timor. ... Motto Honra, Pátria e Povo(Portuguese) Honour, Homeland and People Anthem Pátria Capital (and largest city) Dili Official languages Portuguese, Tetum1 Government Republic  -  President Xanana Gusmão  -  Prime Minister José Ramos Horta Independence from Portugal2   -  Declared November 28, 1975   -  Recognized May 20, 2002  Area  -  Total 14,609 km... Image File history File links Flag_of_Palau. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Armenia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brunei. ... Motto Always in service with Gods guidance(translation) Anthem Allah Peliharakan Sultan God Bless the Sultan Capital (and largest city) Bandar Seri Begawan Official languages Malay (national), English Government  -  Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Independence  -  End of British protectorate January 1, 1984  Area  -  Total 5,765 km² (170th) 2,226 sq... Image File history File links Flag_of_Georgia_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Austria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... 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Notes

See also

• African Development Bank
• International Monetary Fund
• World Bank

The African Development Bank (ADB) is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of States dollar|$]]47. ... “IMF” redirects here. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means...

External links

• Bank Information Center
• The ADB website: http://www.adb.org
• ADB Institute: http://www.adbi.org