TBILISI, Georgia, May 3. The influence of multilateral development banks is disproportionate to their amount of funding, Deputy Director General and Chief Procurement Officer of ADB's Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Division, Jeff Taylor said, Trend reports.
He made the remark during the panel discussion on "Sustainable Procurement - Contributing to ADB's Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Goals" at the ADB Annual Meeting.
"The impact of multilateral development banks (MDBs) is disproportionate to their amount of financing. We pay to lead, lead by example, or advise many of our member countries. And we, as members of the MDB community, have a responsibility to take a leadership role in this, not a reactive role, and to be proactive. This is part of the evolution of the MDBs.
I mentioned the old way of procurement, the risk-free way. As an MDB group, we are all working very hard to move away from that old model. It is not easy, but the process is well underway, and it is irreversible. It started with the concept of value for money. And now we realize that sustainability is a value that we must incorporate into our approaches. And we have a unique understanding of that," he noted.
The theme of the 57th annual meeting, scheduled for May 2 to 5, is "Bridge to the Future".
The first session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The opening will mark the official start of the annual meeting. This event is attended by distinguished guests from the host country. Statements will be made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Chairman of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili.
The annual meeting provides ADB governors with the opportunity to discuss development issues and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. Several thousand participants regularly attend the meeting, including finance ministers, central bank governors, high-ranking government officials, representatives of the private sector, international organizations, civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media.
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