ADB in 2017: a Busy Agenda for the Next 12 Months

ADB

2017 promises to be a busy year for ADB.

2017 promises to be a busy year for ADB. The combination of the Asian Development Fund lending operations with ADB's ordinary capital resources takes effect in January, boosting the bank’s lending capacity and strengthening its readiness to respond to future economic crises and natural disasters. We take a look at what is in store for ADB in the next 12 months.

January
ADB President Takehiko Nakao will participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 17 to 20 January. Responsive and responsible leadership is the theme driving this year’s event, with world leaders discussing how to make development more inclusive and growth more equitable.

February
The fourth World Ocean Summit will be held in Bali, Indonesia, from 22 to 24 February, on how to finance a sustainable ocean economy.

ADB has been playing a key role in helping promote the Coral Triangle Initiative, serving as the lead agency to mobilize financial resources for what is the center of the world's coral reef biological diversity, which covers areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.

March
The 8th ADB Business Opportunities Fair will be held from 22 to 23 March.

The Fair is a one-stop forum for consultants, contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers looking to provide goods and services for ADB projects.

April
The Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2017 is expected to be issued in April. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of macroeconomic performance for the past year and forecasts for the next 2 years for the 45 developing economies in Asia and the Pacific.

May
The 50th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors will be held from 4 to 7 May 2017 in Yokohama, Japan. This year’s event will focus the theme Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.

June
The Asia Clean Energy Forum 2017 will be held in Manila from 5 to 9 June. The event is jointly organized by ADB, the US Agency for International Development, and the Korea Energy Agency.

July
The 2017 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development will be held from 10 to 19 July, in New York, USA. During the event, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals will be reviewed.

August
On 9 August, International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed. ADB's safeguard policy addresses environmental and social risks in development projects, aiming to minimize and mitigate, if not avoid, adverse project impacts on people, including indigenous people, and the environment.

September
In September, the Asian Development Outlook 2017 Update is expected to be launched. The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2017, featuring the latest available economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for ADB's 48 regional members, will be launched in the third quarter of the year.

October
On 1 October, the International Day of Older Persons will be observed. Asia’s population of over 60 year-olds is growing fast and is expected to reach 845 million by 2030. ADB promotes dialogue among countries on a "graying" Asia and the Pacific region, and finances projects to help governments better serve the needs of an older population.

November
The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Bonn, Germany, from 13 to 14 November.

ADB plays an important role in leading the region to a green growth path through financing and innovative technologies. From 2011 to 2015, ADB approved over $15.5 billion of climate financing.

December
In December, ADB will conclude celebrations of its fiftieth anniversary. Opened in 1966 with 31 members that came together to serve a predominantly agricultural region, ADB focused much of its assistance on food production and rural development for the rest of the 1960s.