Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Established in 1966, the Asian Development Bank finances development in the Asia and Pacific region with the aim to reduce poverty. ADB is located in Manila, Philippines. ADB has 67 shareholding members including 48 from the Asia-Pacific region. ADB raises funds through bond issues on the world’s capital markets. ADB also relies on members’ contributions, retained earnings from our lending operations, and the repayment of loans. With $21.72 billion in approved financing in 2011, ADB in partnership with member governments, independent specialists and other financial institutions is focused on delivering projects that create economic and development impact. ADB helps developing member countries tackle poverty by providing loans, technical assistance and grants for a broad range of development activities.

ADB focuses on five core areas of operations: infrastructure; the environment, including climate change; regional cooperation and integration; finance sector development; and education. ADB aims for an Asia and Pacific free from poverty. While it has achieved a significant reduction in extreme poverty, the region remains home to about two-thirds of the world’s extremely poor.

With $21.72 billion in approved financing in 2011, ADB is focused on delivering projects that create economic and development impact. Since 2000, the Asian Development Fund has transformed the region with the construction of thousands of schools, bridges, health clinics and roads, providing opportunities for people to li themselves out of poverty. Over the past 6 years, ADB, through the Asian Development Fund has:

(a) expanded the access of more than 19 million students to quality education by building or upgrading more than 60,000 classrooms and training 720,000 teachers;

(b) helped more than 252 million people gain better access to wider economic opportunities and social services by building or upgrading more than 56,000 (km) of roads;

(c) provided more than 2.1 million households with access to clean water by installing or rehabilitating about 14,000 km of water supply pipes;

(d) connected more than 1.8 million households to electricity by building or upgrading more than 35,000 km of power transmission and distribution lines; and

(e) reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by promoting more et and cleaner energy operations.

ADB also provides loans and grants from a number of Special Funds. The largest is the Asian Development Fund, which offers grants and loans at very low interest rates. ADB’s capital has tripled from $55 billion to $165 billion, providing it with more resources to for an Asia and Pacific region free from poverty.