The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved additional financing of US$30.5 million, in the form of a grant, to help the Lao PDR government improve water supply and sanitation. The financing, which is in addition to a $35 million loan the ADB approved in 2013, will make it possible for the Lao PDR government to […]
• Editorial
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries have made stunning progress over the past quarter century. Once plagued by poverty, they are now economic success stories. The GMS Economic Cooperation Program (GECP) has contributed significantly to this transformation. Since it was established in 1992 as a means to enhance economic relations and promote regional cooperation, its […]
• Editorial
In the last 20 years, rapid economic growth in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has reduced poverty and brought prosperity to many of its 420 million people. Much of the growth has relied on natural resources, which generate up to half of total wealth in some GMS countries. But the “grow-now-clean-up-later” approach has worsened environmental […]
• Editorial
Cambodia recently made the transition from a low income to a lower middle-income country, according to the World Bank’s rankings. This is good news, but it poses a question: does Cambodia need to rethink its model of export-driven economic growth, as preferential access for its exports to developed countries is gradually reduced, or as aid flows diminish? The answer […]
• Editorial
Infrastructure is essential for development. Roads, railways, ports, and power supplies have helped drive Asia’s growth, allowing its people to get to work and its products to reach markets. For this momentum to continue the region’s existing stock of infrastructure must be upgraded. A new generation of transport networks, energy facilities, and water and sanitation […]
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a $70 million loan to help provide a more efficient, safe, and disaster resilient transport sector in Cambodia, particularly by improving national roads in the provinces of Prey Veng, Siem Reap, and Svay Rieng along the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Southern Economic Corridor. “In Cambodia […]
Construction of the Nam Ngum hydropower plant started in 1968. Harnessing the power of the country’s largest watershed, the first hydropower plant in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was producing 30 megawatts of electricity within four years. Today it sits at the base of a still growing hydropower cascade comprising four active power plants that […]
Asia’s economic growth over the last decade has been relentless, bringing with it a rising population and an influx of people from the countryside to the cities in search of prosperity. These trends are not expected to abate. By 2025 the total population of the Asia Pacific region should reach about 4.4 billion. And over […]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $123.3 million loan for a new water tunnel to help modernise Manila’s water supply, reducing the risk of shortages as demand for water rises in tandem with the city’s booming population. According to Paul van Klaveren, senior urban development specialist with ADB’s Southeast Asia Department: “The Angat […]
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADBs) operations – comprising loan approvals and grants, technical assistance, and cofinancing – reached an all-time high of US$ 27.15 billion in 2015, an increase of about 19 per cent over the $22.89 billion in 2014, according to provisional figures released today. The ADBs approvals of loans and grants, sovereign (government) and […]
Economic losses from the impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia could be 60 per cent higher than previously estimated, reducing the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 11 per cent by 2100, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study. The analysis is an update to a 2009 ADB report that […]
The Philippines will see a mild pullback in 2015 GDP growth before the economy bounces back in 2016 on a pickup in government spending and a likely bounce back in exports, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report. In an update to its flagship annual economic publication, Asian Development Outlook 2015, ADB projects 2015 Philippines […]
Emerging East Asia bond markets came under pressure in the past quarter amidst concerns over softer growth, depreciating currencies, and US interest rates, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADBs) Asia Bond Monitor – September 2015. “Asia bond markets were buffeted by strong headwinds, including anticipation of the US Federal Reserve rate hike, which has […]
Opening statement by ADB vice-president Stephen Groff at the 20th Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program held 9-10 September 2015 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
I am very pleased to join you at this 20th Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program (GMS-ECP). I would like to thank our host, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, for their impressive work in organizing this conference, for the hospitality extended to all of the participants. I would also […]