Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Governor for India, recently participated in the Governors’ Seminar on “Cooperation for a Resilient Future”, held as part of ADB’s annual meeting 2021.
- Sitharaman appreciated the ADB for providing timely financial support for Covid and non-Covid projects.
About ADB:
- It is a regional development bank.
- established on 19 December 1966.
- headquartered — Manila, Philippines.
- official United Nations Observer.
- The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries.
- ADB now has 68 members, 49 from within Asia.
- It is modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
- As of 31 December 2019, ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).
Roles and functions:
- Dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.
- This is carried out through investments – in the form of loans, grants, and information sharing – in infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems, helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas.
