Two Development Partners To Discuss Global Financial Crisis On Asia's Economy

January 30, 2009 10:55 a.m. EST

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) will meet in Paris on February 3 to discuss the deepening impact of the global financial crisis on Asia's economies.

The two development partners will map the best way to ensure sustainable development in the region going forward, a press statement said on Friday.

The two-day retreat marks the third time the two organizations have gathered and is a measure of the strong links the two have built since cooperation kicked off in 1997.

The gathering will also include high-level meetings with other key development partners from elsewhere in Europe, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom as well as from the European Commission, the ADB said.

The ADB's delegation will be led by Managing Director General Rajat M. Nag while Director General Jean-Michel Severino will head the AFD delegation.

They will address the urgent need to ensure that the economic gains made by Asia over recent years are not derailed or even reversed by the global financial crisis given that 620 million people in the region still live on less than $1 per day, and the urgent need for further investment in health and other services amid estimates that the region needs to spend $3 trillion on infrastructure over the coming decade to sustain growth.

Paris-based AFD operates in more than 60 developing countries including Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam as well as Afghanistan, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.