EDB Received ADB Delegation in Almaty

Almaty, 17 May 2011. On Monday, Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the EDB Executive Board, and representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headed by Lakshmi Venkatachalam, ADB Vice-President, discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation at the EDB headquarters in Almaty.

«Our banks have common goals and tasks, and we are pleased to be able to discuss the prospects of our cooperation under a number of projects,» said Finogenov. «I’d propose that we first of all consider opportunities of supporting the private sector in Central Asian countries. I mean in particular finance and banking, trade financing, support of small and medium size businesses, leasing, and microfinance».

Lakshmi Venkatachalam, who supervises private sector and co-financing operations at the ADB, said that the ADB is prepared, within the framework of its strategy, to co-finance and provide its expertise and experience to joint projects in private sector development, including those featuring private-public partnership.

The head of the ADB delegation also stressed that the ADB places an emphasis on economic integration and environmental protection projects in the region. She named energy, infrastructure, transport and finance as prospective areas of cooperation between the two banks.

The parties also spoke on the EDB’s prospects of participating in the ADB-initiated programme of support of economic cooperation in the Central Asia (CARC Programme) in EDB member states, for example, in energy and trade development.

Igor Finogenov said that the EDB is interested in the ADB’s experience in managing and monitoring investment through funds, and attracting donors to financing such funds. He proposed looking into opportunities of the EDB’s participation in the ADB’s investment funds which are already functioning in the EDB member states. The EDB Chairman finds interesting an idea of establishing a joint investment fund for financing projects in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

Finogenov also said that the two international development banks would successfully cooperate in information exchange, including analytical effort, and proposed that their analytical forces should meet to discuss common issues and the scenarios of economic development of the region’s countries.

«We are interested in the ADB’s rich experience in projects aimed at economic integration of member states, including within the framework of private-public partnership programmes,» said Finogenov «I’m sure that interaction at an expert and specialist level which we are able to launch will enhance the efficiency of our efforts and, as a result, will improve the economies and living standards in a number of Central Asian countries».

Concluding the meeting, the parties stressed the importance of such negotiations and agreed to continue their cooperation in matters of common interest.

Summary

The Asian Development Bank is a multilateral development bank founded in 1966 in order to finance development programmes in the Asian and Pacific region (APR). At the end of 2010 the Bank had 67 members including 48 APR countries. The ADB’s objectives are to foster economic development, sustainable growth, improvements in living standards and quality of life in developing member countries, and the APR’s regional integration.