OPENING REMARKS
Carlos G. Dominguez
Secretary of Finance
Press Conference Launching the Philippines’ Hosting
Of the 2018 ADB Annual Meeting
February 20, 2018
(Greetings)
The Philippines is honored to host the 51stAsian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting.
For five decades, the Philippines and the ADB have had a strong partnership. The regional bank has been one of the country’s biggest sources of official development assistance. The regional bank financed some of our most important infrastructure projects and given us grants to study many facets of our development.
The Philippines, of course, hosts the headquarters of this vital regional organization.
From today until the annual meeting next May, several forums and conferences will be conducted. These discussions are organized to hear out experts and stakeholders on their ideasto improvethe work of the Bank. Beyond the work of the Bank, the discussions will examine the changing global and regional realities, the challenges posed by development in the new economic world and the opportunities offered by new information technologies.
We are confident these preliminary discussions will enlighten the agenda set for the Annual Meeting. After five decades, this is a good time to explore possibilities for reinventing the Bank and inaugurating new programs to enable the Bank to play an even more effective role in Asia’s unfolding.
The Philippines, as this year’s host country, will lead discussions around the theme “Linking People and Economies for Inclusive Development.” We are inviting some of the world’s best and most influential minds to enrich our deliberations.
Over the past five decades, the ADB poured over 250 billion US dollars into the Asia-Pacific region. The programs of the Bank no doubt helped transform this region into one of the most progressive and dynamic regions of the world. Notwithstanding, the Asia-Pacific continues to be home to some of the poorest communities. There is a challenge for inclusiveness here.
In the course of the deliberations, we hope to craft modes of development interventions that will be more inclusive. We are doing this in the midst of several large global trends. The Asia-Pacific is now the center of gravity of the global economy and its most important growth driver. There isarising hostility to free trade in someof thecountriesin the West. Several new multilateral institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have emerged, requiring differentiation of roles.
We are happy to note that the discussions on inclusive growth align with the Duterte administration’s own thinking regarding the challenge of fomenting inclusive growth in a new context.There is broad recognition of the need for massive infusion into infrastructure programs that will link communities to the mainstream of wealth creation. There is as well broad recognition for expanding spending on social services such as education andhealthcareto liberate millions from poverty at the soonest possibletime.
Hosting the ADB annual meeting at this time is fortuitous for the country. It provides us a stage to highlight the strong growth demonstrated by the Philippine economy and the programs to stimulate thatgrowth.With solid fiscal management, a slew of reforms affecting the ease of doing business and administrative innovation to make government truly work for the people, we are proud to showcase the gains we have achieved. This administration’s strategy of rapid but inclusive growth intends to dramatically bring down poverty rates by 2022.
We look forward to working closely with all the delegations from the member countries and observers from all over the world to ensure the successful conduct of the 51stAnnual Meeting. We warmly welcome all the delegates to the country and offer the best we have to ensure this meeting will be both productive and enjoyable.
Thank you very much.
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