by Piyaporn Hawiset
16 April 2000
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it planned to set up a new office in Bangkok, aimed to use Thailand as its base to strengthen cooperation with countries in the region, Craig Steffensen, ADB Resident Adviser, said in Bangkok on April 1, 2000. The Thai News Agency (TNA) quoted Steffensen as saying that the proposed plan was expected to be endorsed at an ADB meeting on April 19, and that the new office was expected to be opened by the end of 2000.
The new Bangkok office would also help enhance cooperation and coordination between the Manila-based ADB and countries in the Mekong Sub-region, particularly in regional development projects, as it could better access to data and information on political, economic and social development in the region, he said.
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai proposed in 1997 and 1998 that ADB open a regional office in Bangkok. The ADB is Thailand's third largest source of development assistance, after Japan and the World Bank. Steffensen said that the ADB had planned to eventually open offices in all countries in the Mekong Sub-region.
The ADB said the new office would enable it to more effectively handle its operations in Thailand which were becoming more complex and required closer consultation between the bank and Thai policymakers to address major restructuring needs in key sectors in the aftermath of the crisis.
“The new mission will also enhance the participatory process through closer interaction with the government, NGOs (nongovernmental organisations), the private sector, academia, and other stakeholders in designing and implementing the programme of assistance, “ said Filologo Pante, the ADB’s programs manager for Thailand, in a statement.
The office would also support the bank’s program of economic cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).
Over the few months before, the Thai government and the bank had agreed to restructure the ADB’s loan portfolio according to the country’s needs. Based on the government’s requests, the ADB’s proposed medium-term operations in Thailand reflected a distinct shift away from fast disbursing, policy-based program loans provided during 1997-1999, towards resumption in project assistance. In addition, there is a move away from supporting the financial sector towards more support for agriculture/rural development, social development, and improved accountability. The ADB portfolio focuses on special concerns such as poverty reduction, environmental and natural resources management, improved accountability mechanisms, subregional cooperation, and private sector development.
In response to the financial crisis, lending in 1997 increased sharply to US$550 million, mainly due to a $300 million program loan for Financial Markets Reform. In 1998, loan approvals to Thailand amounted to $630 million for three loans, including the Social Sector Program Loan. Thailand also became a strategic partner of the bank in the GMS program and the new resident mission would support the GMS unit in the bank’s headquarters in Manila in coordinating and processing planned and ongoing GMS projects.
The ADB is Thailand’s third largest source of official external assistance after Japan and the World Bank. According to the ADB’s 1999 annual report released yesterday, the multilateral aid agency approved 66 loans totalling nearly $5 billion for 52 projects, of which 40 per cent focused on poverty reduction.