AsDB/AsDF: Asian Development Bank / Asian Development Fund – Core Contribution

Under Strategy 2020, AsDB will follow three complementary strategic agendas: inclusive growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration and has a specific mandate in the areas of Infrastructure, Financial Sector Development, Education, Environment and Regional Cooperation. Compared with the World Bank or UN Organizations, AsDB has a comparative advantage as a Regional Institution (the majority of shareholders and most of its employees come from the region).

AsDB's objectives are consistent with Switzerland's core mandate of reducing poverty. Concerning the instruments, AsDB offers complementary instruments providing interesting opportunities for seizing synergies. For Switzerland, the membership in AsDB allows to contribute to the economic development and poverty reduction also in countries where Switzerland is not bilaterally active. Moreover, AsDB’s operations in Switzerland’s focus countries offer the opportunity of seizing and optimizing complementarities and synergies between the bilateral and multilateral approach.

Improving AsDB’s corporate governance Switzerland contributed to improving corporate governance, developing the effectiveness of AsDB’s operations and the quality of its sectoral, thematic, regional and global positions through its high quality contributions on the board during negotiations and at annual meetings. Increasing development effectiveness AsDB and Switzerland increased their development effectiveness through knowledge exchanges, lessons learned, creating networks, scaling up, leverage and policy influence.

The Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in recent decades. It is one of the fastest growing areas in the world and has enjoyed economic expansion that has lifted several hundred millions of people out of poverty. AsDB and AsDF have played a vital role in helping its developing member countries achieve this progress. Its operations have provided infrastructure and services to boost economic growth, assisted countries in fragile or conflict-affected situations, expanded access for the poor, women and children to good quality education and health care, reliable supply of electricity and clean water as well as economic opportunities. AsDB and AsDF have also helped these countries improve their institutional capacities and implement reforms.

Increase of AsDB’s organizational effectiveness through a merit based human resources management, increased AsDB financial solidity and sustainability and an effective decentralization of competences to AsDB Resident Missions. AsDB’s development effectiveness and management for Results strengthened further through improved ratings of quality at completion and at entry of AsDB country strategies and AsDB’s support to inclusive economic growth. AsDB improves its contribution to governance and anticorruption in relevance and quality through a more conflict and gender sensitive approach to governance and anti-corruption with increased attention towards a broadened domestic ownership and accountability system. AsDB further enhances and improves Climate Change support through adapted Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Toolkits and Policies and increased quality at entry of country partnerships integrating climate change concerns. AsDB achieves its targeted results in Water for Food through a fostered dialogue with Switzerland in this area.

40% of Operations supporting environmental sustainability 90% of approved operations with Civil society organization participation in sovereign operations by 2016 80% of Completed country strategies and assistance programs rated successful by 2016 80% of Water projects rated satisfactory at completion Selected Output targets in core operational areas: Education: 2’577’000 Students benefiting from school improvement programs or direct support Energy: 346,300 new households connected to electricity and 7,719,952 GWh-equiv/yr of Energy saved Finance: 325,000 Microfinance accounts opened or end borrowers reached Transport: 20,852,000 Beneficiaries from road projects and 4,500,000 average daily passengers on urban rail and bus based mass transit systems built or upgraded in first full year of operation Water: 562,000 New households served with water supply and 626,200 hectares of land improved through irrigation services, drainage, and flood management

Switzerland is 13th largest donor of the AsDF

Australia Austria Belgium Brunei Darussalam Canada China, People's Republic of Denmark Finland France Germany Hong Kong, China Ireland Italy Japan Korea, Republic of Luxembourg Malaysia The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Singapore Spain Sweden Taipei,China Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States

Switzerland is in a constituency composed by France and Italy as lead countries together with Belgium, Portugal and Spain. Switzerland has the 3rd largest share of capital within this 6 country constituency. The 3 constituencies representing the European member countries and Canada have an arrangement to issue joint board positions on project- and program- related board items. For policy related items joint statements are elaborated on a case by case basis.

Phase 9 01.01.2013 - 31.12.2021   (Completed)