From 2 to 5 May 2016, more than 3,000 representatives of business, politics and civil society attended the Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Frankfurt am Main. It was the first time that Germany hosted this event, the venue of which rotates and was last held in Europe seven years ago.
Asia - one of the world's
most dynamic regions
Germany participated in the establishment of ADB in 1966 and is now its largest European shareholder. It provides 4.3 percent of the Asian Development Bank's capital. ADB's first bond was launched on the Frankfurt market in September 1969.
Twelve projects co-financed by KfW and ADB are currently ongoing. KfW has received EUR 158 million in promotional funds from the German Federal Government and supplemented this with an additional EUR 1.3 billion of KfW's own funds. The projects relate to energy, decentralisation, adaptation to climate change and urban development. Initially only five countries were covered under the memorandum of understanding. However, due to the success of the partnership, ADB and KfW agreed to include Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, along with the existing priority countries—Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Viet Nam.
450 million people in Asia live in poverty
When ADB was founded in 1966, Asia was one of the poorest regions of the world. Today, it is one of the most dynamic regions. But as many as 450 million people are still in extreme poverty. Many countries in Asia and the Pacific have put in place green growth policies. They have made strong commitments to pursue economic growth in a way that limits carbon emissions and ecological degradation.
300 million people in India have
no access to electricity
ADB supports the creation of economic and job opportunities through a strong focus on infrastructure development, with a growing emphasis on targeting poorer and lagging regions in its developing member countries (DMCs). In addition, ADB is expanding its support for human development, including skills training and vocational education to enhance the employability of the labour force.
Human development is
essential for economic growth
As part of its work with the private sector, ADB is strengthening the investment climate in DMCs, expanding its support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as for inclusive business development, which provides significant employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Finally, ADB is supporting social protection programmes and social safety nets for the poorest populations in the region.
Promotion of renewable energies in India goes back almost three decades
Together with the Asian Development Bank KfW is financing a project in the Beijing metropolitan area, that is part of the German-Chinese cooperation on climate protection. The Beijing metropolitan area generates 10% of China's GDP, and is a base for heavy industry. The level of private vehicle ownership will match that of industrialised countries by 2020.
EUR 420 million in financing
In order to improve air quality in Beijing, KfW and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are jointly financing a complex undertaking comprising several large-scale projects. These include the expansion of renewable energies and public transport, and the reduction of capacities in heavy industry and coal consumption.
Urbanisation means air, land and water quality is deteriorating
"We have many specific issues of interest in common with our German hosts, including the private sector and its role in development, the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises, the financial sector and strengthening commercial banks, and the need to create high quality jobs, including through vocational training and high quality workplaces. This in turn raises the question of how to improve workplace safety and conditions—an issue that Germany is promoting in Bangladesh for instance with its garment industry—and how to move developing countries up the value chain."Takehiko Nakao
President of the Asian Development Bank
Environmental protection in India: distilleries have to use their waste for generating biogas
According to Mr Nakao, another major topic is climate change and how to deliver on COP 21 commitments. Germany is an important advocator on this topic. What happens in Asia on this issue is of global importance, given that one third of global greenhouse gas emissions are from Asia and about one third of global production is in Asia.
Green energy corridors transport the sustainably-generated power - KfW and ADB finance renewable energies in India
Together with the ADB KfW finances one of the biggest project in the bank's history - the large-scale strategic project "green energy corridors". The green energy corridors will feed sustainably-generated power into the national grid and transport it to the Indian cities.
India's aim is to produce 175 gigawatts of green electricity by 2022.
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) both development banks are supporting India in the construction of these green corridors by cofinancing transmission lines and substations. KfW is providing funding of around EUR 1 billion to this project.
Asia accounts for two thirds
of global CO2 emissions
ADB's annual meeting in Frankfurt helped attract attention to Asia's development agenda among a large number of participants from both the public and private sectors. "We need to work harder to channel funds—particularly private sector funds—and to tap expertise, new approaches and technologies to achieve environmental sustainability in this dynamic region of ours", says Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
