56th Annual ADB Governors’ Meeting kicks off in South Korea

• First in-person meeting after 3-year hiatus due to COVID pandemic
• Around 5,000 delegates gather to discuss economic and development issues affecting Asia and the Pacific under the theme “Rebounding Asia: Recover, Reconnect, and Reform”
• Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry leads Lankan delegation
• Sri Lanka has received $ 11.2 b in ADB support since its inception

By Charumini de Silva in South Korea

The 56th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Governors will kick off tomorrow in person in Incheon, Republic of Korea after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Themed ‘Rebounding Asia: Recover, Reconnect, and Reform’ the four-day meeting this year will discuss economic and development issues affecting Asia and the Pacific.

With around 5,000 delegates expected, the ADB Annual Meeting is the premier forum that brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 68 members economies, officials from international organisations, and representatives from the private sector, academics, civil society organisations, and the press to discuss major issues in Asia, future directions for the ADB and promote mutual communication and cooperation among participants.

Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry will represent Sri Lanka in the 56th Annual Meeting along with Department of External Resources Director General Ajith Abeysekera.

The Minister will deliver a statement at the Governor’s Business Session on 4 May among other interventions during the period. Minister Sabry will meet with the counterparts of several other countries on the sidelines of the event, to discuss Sri Lanka’s ongoing engagements for economic revival.

As a key development partner, the ADB has worked closely with Sri Lanka since 1966. Sri Lanka is also a founding member of the ADB. To date, ADB has committed 482 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totalling $ 11.2 billion.

The 56th Annual Meeting of the ADB is hosted by the Government of Korea which will seek ways for Korea and Asia to leap forward again and hold various events to promote the innovativeness of Korean companies and the dynamism of Korean culture. This will also provide strength in deepening mutual understanding and economic cooperation between Korea and economies in the Asia-Pacific region a step further.

In addition, the Korea-China-Japan Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting and the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting will also be held on the sidelines of the 2023 ADB Annual Meeting.

The ADB will also launch the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific (IF-CAP), a tool that will boost its lending capacity through leverage and will be vitally instrumental in achieving ADB’s $ 100 billion climate ambition by 2030. IF-CAP is piloting a guarantee mechanism where every $ 1 commitment can generate up to $ 5 in new loans to accelerate climate action.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. It assists its members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.