MILAN, Italy, May 5. The UK wants to see more pre-emptive action from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) ahead of crises, for example: pre-arranged finance; support for resilient infrastructure; and disease surveillance, Catherine West, Alternate Governor of ADB from the UK, said, addressing the business session of ADB Governors, Trend’s special correspondent reports from Milan.
“We want to see a better, bigger and more effective bank to help
unlock more finance for tackling climate change and poverty, and to
accelerate progress toward the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals. ADB has demonstrated innovation through its
Capital Adequacy Framework review and unlocked $10 billion in
financing each year until 2030,” she said.
West noted that the UK welcomes the ambitious plan for utilising this additional capital over the coming years.
“To solidify ADB’s leadership and client-
oriented approach, we look forward to seeing how the bank can
mobilise more capital from private
markets, whilst maintaining its commitment to existing targets. ADB
must not
lose focus on targets that have been agreed by the Board. We expect
ADB to remain focused on
implementation of agreed strategies, including the following
priorities: First, fragility. Tackling poverty and addressing
global food security remain key priorities for the UK government,
and we support the bank’s focus on these in the region’s most
vulnerable countries where extreme poverty is most concentrated.
Secondly, climate and nature, third, private capital mobilisation,
fourth, institutional reform and efficiency,” she said.