Sustaining economic recovery with an assault on poverty in Asia and
rebuilding war-ravaged Afghanistan will be the main issues at the
upcoming
Asian Development Bank's
meeting, the bank's chief said.
Some 3,000 delegates will attend the 35th
annual meeting of ADB's board of governors in Shanghai from May
10 to 12.
ADB President Tadao Chino said the meeting among 60 members would
help track the region's economic outlook which could be clouded by
oil price increases following the Middle East conflict.
"A
major challenge now is to bring Asian economies back on a steady
and sustainable growth path" after the four-year turmoil that
followed the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Chino said in an
interview ahead of the meeting.
The Manila-based ADB is forecasting that developing Asia will
achieve an average growth of 4.8 percent in 2002 and 5.8 percent in
2003, after posting 3.7 percent growth in 2001, he said.
Chino said gradual recovery in global trade and moderate
improvement in capital flows to Asia and strong domestic demand in
many developing nations would support the region's economies.
He
said the strengthening of the US economy should brighten the
outlook for other economies worldwide, including the Euro area and
Japan, he said.
"However there are concerns," he warned. "One concern for
developing Asia is the oil price (and its associated effects). The
destructive events in the Middle East could cause oil prices to
rise."
ADB is also concerned about the pace of structural reforms in Asia,
given the increased global competition in traditional export
markets.
Asked whether Japan would drag down Asian growth, Chino said he
expected the world's second largest economy to improve in 2002 and
show positive growth in 2003.
The ADB annual talks will also seek feedback on the bank's
poverty-busting strategy, in line with the United Nations' goal of
cutting poverty in half by 2015 as part of its so-called millennium development
goals.
"We recognize the MDG of cutting poverty in half by 2015 is
ambitious, but we are confident it can be achieved in many Asian
countries," Chino said.
Some 900 million people in Asia are living in poverty and they make
up 70 percent of the world's poor.
Another key topic in Shanghai is ADB's participation in
Afghanistan's reconstruction and recovery following the US-led war
against terror there.
The ADB is leading work in four areas -- agriculture, education,
transportation and the environment in Afghanistan.
"For our part, ADB is preparing an initial country strategy and
program for the next three years and we tentatively have identified
a program of about US$200 million in assistance for 2002 with
similar levels of assistance for 2003 and 2004," Chino said.
(Xinhua News
Agency April 25, 2002)