ADB and AFD to increase co-financing in Asia and Pacific region to $5 bln

February 8, 2019 (MLN): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have agreed to increase their co-financing commitment from $3 billion in the past 3 years to $5 billion in the next 3 years, allowing them to scale up their joint development efforts in the Asia and Pacific region.

Under the Partnership Framework Agreement (PFA) for 2016–2022 that ADB and AFD signed in October 2016, the two institutions had agreed to each dedicate $1.5 billion in co-financing in the first 3 years of the 6-year agreement. ADB and AFD have now decided to increase the amount to $2.5 billion each in the next 3 years, bringing their combined commitment to $5 billion.

Amendment to the PFA, which includes the new co-financing commitment, was signed by ADB Vice-President for Private Sector and Co-financing Operations Mr. Diwakar Gupta and AFD Deputy Chief Operation Officer Mrs. Marie-Hélène Loison on the sidelines of the 12th ADB–AFD High-Level Meeting held at ADB headquarters.

“This meeting is an opportunity to provide a renewed momentum to our continued partnership,” said Mrs. Loison.  “In line with ADB’s Strategy 2030 and the French government’s commitment to reach the official development assistance target of 0.55% of GDP by 2022 and its strong support for the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement, the raising of our co-financing targets will be accompanied by new collaboration to support economic transitions toward low-carbon and climate-resilient sustainable development in the region.”

ADB and AFD have been collaborating since 1997, when they cofinanced their first project. They hold a high-level consultation meeting once a year to share priorities and promote strategic partnership.

As part of the two institutions’ renewed cooperation under the PFA, ADB and AFD also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to extend their collaboration in urban transport through the “Mobilise Your City” (MYC) partnership. The MOU was signed by ADB’s Chief Sector Officer Mr. Robert Guild and Director of AFD’s East Europe, Middle East, and Asia Department Mr. Rémi Genevey.

Under the MOU, AFD is mobilizing the first tranche of €5 million ($5.7 million) from its grant resources to finance the procurement of consultants for the program. ADB will allocate its staff resources jointly with AFD to monitor MYC activities and to take part in the policy dialogue with counterparts.