Mr.Kiyoshi Taniguchi, country economist at ADB Uzbekistan Resident Mission, presented the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its activities, including in Uzbekistan.

ADB is dedicated to poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific, a region that is home to two thirds of the world’s poor. Established in 1966 and headquartered in Manila, ADB is owned and financed by its 67 member countries, of which 48 are from the region and 19 are from other parts of the globe.

It contributes low interest loans, guarantees, grants, private sector investments, and knowledge and advice to help build infrastructure and improve essential services such as health and education to boost quality of life, particularly for the nearly 1.9 billion people in the region still living on US$2 or less a day.

ADB’s focus is on encouraging economic growth, social development, and good governance, while promoting regional cooperation and integration in partnership with governments, the private sector, and nongovernment and international organizations.

Although most lending is in the public sector - and to governments - ADB also provides direct assistance to private enterprises of developing countries through equity investments, and loans. In addition, its triple-A credit rating helps mobilize funds for development.

Mr.Kiyoshi Taniguchi said at his presentation that the ADB has been working in Uzbekistan since 1998. He said the priority areas of the bank in Uzbekistan are rural development, promotion of private sector development, regional cooperation in transport and trade, and improved social services with emphasis on early childhood development and basic education. He added the governance is a cross-cutting theme.

Mr. Taniguchi said the bank issued about US$1.1 billion in cumulative lending to Uzbekistan, of which 27% were directed to education sector, 25% to agriculture and natural resources and 19% to transport and communication. The average annual lending over the period 1997-2006 was US$93 million. ADB has provided 67 technical assistance grants to Uzbekistan totaling US$34 million.

Zohid Askarov, project manager of UNDP at HSB, said: “The HSB trains public and private sector managers for the public administration and private owned companies. This presentation will assist our students to familiarize with the ADB activities and use new knowledge in their professional activities.”

The event was organized within UNDP’s project “Improving Public Sector Management Skills through Building Training and Research Capacity of the Higher School of Business under the State Academy for State and Public Construction under the President of Uzbekistan”. The project aimed to enhance capacity of the HSB to teach public sector management skills to support the development and effective implementation of the public policy in Uzbekistan.