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 seventh 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 (US$191 million for 2009-2012) which provides grants and low-interest loans to the region's poorest countries. CIDA has also contributed to multi-donor funds in areas such as equality between women and men, results-based management, climate change, and avian flu. CIDA works with ADB on country-specific programs in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

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 2007 and 2010, with the support of CIDA and other donors, the ADB and ADF have helped:

• Connect almost 5 million households to electricity
• Install or upgrade 25,000 kilometres of energy transmission lines and 89,000 kilometres of distribution lines
• Build or upgrade 73,000 kilometres of roads and 1,800 kilometres of railways
• Provide more than 4 million households with new water supply and 300,000 with sanitation
• Increase wastewater treatment capacity by 334,000 cubic meters a day
• Provide school improvement programs, which included building or upgrading 84,000 classrooms and training 570,000 teachers, benefitting 18 million students
• Open or maintain some 5 million microfinance accounts and almost 800,000 small and medium sized enterprise loan accounts
• Improve more than 14 million hectares of land through irrigation services, drainage, and flood management
• Reduce 6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year

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