ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
ORGANIZATION
ACCOUNTABILITY
ADB supports projects in developing member countries that create economic and development impact, delivered through both public and private sector operations, advisory services, and knowledge support.
ADB in Southeast Asia
ADB works with 8 developing member countries to help build resilience against economic shocks, deliver sustainable services, and promote inclusive and sustainable growth.
ADB's Work in Southeast Asia
Growth in Southeast Asia is normalizing after a sharp rebound in 2022, when countries reopened their borders and eased COVID-19 restrictions. The recovery is forecast to continue in 2023 and 2024, supported by the return of tourists and increased domestic demand, with inflation expected to gradually moderate.
While commodity-exporting countries benefited from higher global food and fuel prices in 2022, commodity importers and the region’s smaller economies were more vulnerable to price increases. Vulnerable communities across Southeast Asia suffered greater food insecurity, with increases averaging 51% on pre-pandemic levels. ADB is providing at least $14 billion over 2022-2025 to ease the food crisis in Asia and the Pacific.
In 2022, ADB committed $6 billion in financing for Southeast Asia, including $5 billion for sovereign operations and $1 billion in nonsovereign investments.
ADB made substantial investments to scale up climate adaptation and mitigation in the region. This included a climate change policy-based loan—ADB’s first ever—to the Philippines, and notable progress in Indonesia under ADB’s Energy Transition Mechanism.
ADB also helped its Southeast Asian developing member countries (DMCs) strengthen health and education systems, boost worker productivity, reduce unemployment, and enhance public services.
New country partnership strategies launched in 2022 will promote greater market orientation in Timor-Leste and enhance Viet Nam's transition to a green economy.
Addressing Poverty
ADB support across Southeast Asia in 2022 included operations to expand access to finance, strengthen health security, and improve education and skills training.
ADB committed a $500 million loan to further promote financial inclusion for vulnerable groups in Indonesia, which has the fourth-largest unbanked population in the world. Complementing an equivalent investment in 2020, the loan is enhancing access to financial services for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; women; youth; and people in rural areas.
To expand availability of affordable medical equipment and supplies in Indonesia, ADB provided a $12.3 million-rupiah equivalent equity investment to PT Jayamas Medica Industri (JMI). The investment will help JMI build two manufacturing facilities and a distribution center, and add 15 warehouses and 25 stores.
ADB extended a $100 million loan to help modernize the Philippines' technical and vocational education and training system. By improving skilling programs, enhancing trainer capacities, and upgrading facilities, the project is expected to boost around 300,000 graduates' employment prospects.
By the Numbers: 2022 Operations
$6.0 billion
Committed
$4.3 billion
Disbursed
$1.5 billion
Cofinanced
Source: ADB Annual Report 2022
Southeast Asia DMCs
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Lao PDR
-
ADB placed on hold its assistance in Myanmar effective 1 February 2021.
- Philippines
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Viet Nam
Gender Equality
During 2022, ADB’s work in Southeast Asia included a sharp focus on women’s economic participation and entrepreneurship to reverse pandemic setbacks.
ADB released a report on the constraints Lao women entrepreneurs face doing business. The report presented findings that business registration takes longer and costs more for women. It urged the government to train staff on gender bias and make it easier for women to create and run businesses.
To help more Filipino women and girls access training for well-paid jobs, ADB and the Government of the Philippines launched SkillsUpNet. Some 66 enterprises participated in the grants-based, employer-led scheme in 2022, training 326 women and coaching 11 women-led enterprises.
ADB partnered with Timor-Leste’s Superior Council of Judicial Magistrates to train the country’s entire judiciary on laws and procedures relating to gender issues and violence against women and girls. The training covered experiences of survivors, social and cultural norms, associated challenges faced by judges, and international best practices.
In Viet Nam, ADB committed a $19.7 million nonsovereign loan to make childcare and women’s products more affordable. The investment will see a manufacturing facility for hygiene pads, wet wipes, and baby diapers constructed, and help the manufacturer promote gender equality and hygiene product benefits.
Climate Change
To accelerate Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition and development of green infrastructure, ADB ramped up both sovereign and nonsovereign financing in 2022.
The bank achieved a significant milestone under its Energy Transition Mechanism, which aims to retire coal fired power plants and replace them with clean power capacity. In Indonesia, ADB signed a memorandum of understanding to formally explore the early retirement of a 660-megawatt coal-fired power plant in West Java.
ADB also committed a $150 million loan for an innovative green finance mechanism in Indonesia. The loan will implement a finance and infrastructure investment platform that will mobilize public and private funds for bankable projects. The initial batch of supported subprojects is worth over $420 million and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 tons per year.
ADB also launched a new technical assistance platform that will accelerate climate adaptation and mitigation projects in Southeast Asia. The assistance will improve investment planning and project identification, and build capacity to accelerate the project pipeline.
In Cambodia, ADB transaction advisory support led to the signing of a power purchase agreement to develop a 40-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant. The $23 million project will have a very low tariff of $2.57 per megawatt-hour, demonstrating solar can be a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels.
ADB’s first dedicated climate change policy-based loan will help the Philippines develop, deliver, and finance a holistic approach climate change. The $250 million loan is expected to provide access to climate adaptation services for 4 million farmers and fisherfolk, and increase the Philippines’ renewable electricity mix from 21.6% to 26.1%.
Livable Cities
ADB committed to a range of complementary initiatives to tackle urban challenges across Southeast Asia in 2022.
To improve public transport in Manila, ADB committed the first tranche of a $4.3 billion program, the bank’s biggest infrastructure investment to date. The $1.75 billion first phase will construct 54.6 kilometers of commuter railway connecting Metro Manila and Calamba. The new line is expected to lessen air pollution and halve the journey time for an estimated 269,000 passengers daily.
In Timor-Leste’s rapidly growing capital Dili, ADB provided financing and public–private partnership (PPP) transaction advisory services to expand and upgrade water and waste infrastructure.
The bank committed two loans totaling $127 million for a project that will secure clean drinking water from diversified sources for 36,200 households.
In tandem, ADB provided preparation and tender support for a $36.5 million project to upgrade solid waste management through improved landfill and waste collection services. The PPP is ADB’s first in a DMC under the fragile and conflict-affected situations and small island developing states classification.
In Malaysia, ADB provided technical assistance to help prepare green city action plans in 14 urban centers. The plans leverage ADB knowledge, finance, and partnerships to develop infrastructure investments that will increase economic and environmental resilience.
Rural Development and Food Security
ADB made two significant investments in 2022 to bolster the sustainable management of marine resources—a vital source of food for 625 million people in Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, ADB provided a $102.9 million loan to scale up sustainable shrimp aquaculture by smallholders and increase productivity, profitability, traceability, and sustainability. The investment will help shift Indonesia’s shrimp industry toward responsible production and meet increasing demand for sustainably sourced food.
Meanwhile, in Cambodia, unsustainable fishing and poor coastal zone management have seen massive reductions in fish biomass. In response, ADB committed $63 million to support coastal and marine fisheries by addressing unsustainable practices and regenerating nearshore fisheries.
Strengthening Governance
ADB supported reforms to improve Southeast Asian state-owned enterprises (SOEs), sharpen management of public funds, and stimulate private investment in public infrastructure in 2022.
ADB committed $500 million in policy-based lending to increase the economic, environmental, and social value that SOEs provide to Indonesia. Reform measures will enhance oversight, improve financial monitoring and disclosures, strengthen anticorruption protocols, and broaden diversity on boards. Complementing the loan, ADB completed a study identifying measures to strengthen SOE governance.
In broader support to develop Southeast Asia’s capital markets, ADB published an update on green, social, and sustainable bond markets. It also provided technical assistance to Thailand’s state-owned Government Savings Bank, resulting in the issuance of a $295 million social bond.
ADB is also providing technical assistance to strengthen public financial management in the Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam. This support aims to increase voluntary tax compliance and enhance budget, revenue sharing, and oversight practices. The Lao PDR assistance complements another ADB program there to build sustainable financial practices in key ministries and SOEs.
Regional Cooperation
In 2022, ADB made investments to stimulate cross-border trade and mobility and improve regional cooperation within Southeast Asia.
Across the region, transboundary animal diseases, zoonoses, and antimicrobial resistance seriously threaten livelihoods, food security, trade, and economic growth. ADB responded in 2022 by committing $62.9 million to improve Cambodia’s cross-border livestock value chain. The project is expected to expand Cambodia’s ability to export healthy livestock and animal products and reduce livestock mortality in neighboring countries.
ADB provided $32.6 million to improve health services in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey border province—a hub for migrants and employees in the province’s special economic zones (SEZs). The investment will improve regional health by building and better equipping health facilities and introducing a portable electronic health record for migrants.
ADB finalized a major study on development and cooperation for SEZs in the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area. The study proposes a creative "co-opetition" strategy—combining cooperative and competitive approaches—with the aim of establishing a single market and production base.
Experts
Contact
Southeast Asia Department (SERD)
6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines
Fax +63 2 6362444
Cambodia Resident Mission (CARM)
No. 29 Suramarit Blvd. (268/19) Sangkat Chaktomuk, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Indonesia Resident Mission (IRM)
The Plaza Office Tower, 11th Floor, Jl. MH Thamrin 28-30, Central Jakarta, Indonesia 10350
Office hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Lao PDR Resident Mission (LRM)
Corner of Lanexang Av. and Samsenthai Rd., P.O. Box 9724, Vientiane, Lao PDR
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Myanmar Resident Mission (MYRM)
Yangon Office Union Business Centre (UBC), Room : 04-05, 4th Floor, Natmauk Road Bo Cho Quarter, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Office hours: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Philippines Country Office (PhCO)
6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines
Office hours: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Thailand Resident Mission (TRM)
23rd Floor, The Offices at Central World, 999/9 Rama 1 Road, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Timor-Leste Resident Mission (TLRM)
Rua Cabo Verde No 16, Posto Administrativo, Vera Cruz, Suco Motael, Aldeia Halibur, Dili, Timor-Leste
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Viet Nam Resident Mission (VRM)
3rd Floor, Cornerstone Building, 16 Phan Chu Trinh Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Office hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)