Giving Compass' Take:

• These five takeaways from the 51st annual Asian Development Bank Meeting focus on strengthening commitments to private partnerships, shifting infrastructure teams to enhance capacity, and committing to helping those living in poverty in the Pacific. 

• Why are private partnerships important for global development? 

• Read about ADB's recent commitment to invest in renewable energy. 

On its 51st anniversary, the Asian Development Bank presented a multilateral institution determined to remain relevant in a rapidly changing region, working to strengthen operations that serve its purpose and letting go of those that don’t.

The past two years have seen the bank invite critique of its practices and examine its own shortcomings to ensure ADB can deliver for a client base moving toward middle and upper- middle income, without leaving people behind in the process.

Asia and the Pacific are at the heart of the renewables boom and access to electricity has increased over the past 25 years, but nearly 500 million people in the region still live without electricity. Inequality declined in some member countries, but 326 million people continue to live in extreme poverty, according to the bank’s 2017 Development Effectiveness Review presented at the meeting.

In governors’ remarks on the final day of the meetings, representatives from Canada, Australia, the U.K., and more urged the bank to ramp up efforts to support the most vulnerable, including women and girls and people with disabilities, and to widen its understanding of crises.

The bank continued to hash out its new corporate guidelines, dubbed Strategy 2030, which in its draft form outlines expanded private sector operations to address market gaps across the region, doubles down on ADB’s desire to be seen as a knowledge provider, and reiterates the bank’s commitment to energy and climate change work.

At the close of the four days, here are some of the key conversations that took place in Manila.

  1. What Strategy 2030 means for operations
  2. Increased private sector engagement, and its implications
  3. Questions about China and AIIB
  4. A commitment to energy
  5. ADB boosting Pacific presence

Read the full article about takeaways from Asian Development Bank by Kelli Rogers and Jenny Lei Ravelo at Devex International Development