The Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy constitutes an excellent starting point for crystallizing an overall vision for the Bank. The aim of the vision should be to define in what areas and with what means poverty reduction operations can become most effective. In our view the vision should reflect an understanding of the Bank's strengths, weaknesses and comparative advantages. The vision should build on the ADB's regional status, which gives it unique position in promoting national ownership, and thus impact and sustainability. The vision must also define the Bank's proper role in an international multilateral context.
Good governance is critical to poverty reduction.
We see a leading role for the Bank in supporting good governance in borrowing countries. Sound, transparent and accountable public institutions that are not standing in the way, but rather paving the way for pro-poor growth and social progress are indispensable. Some times there is a thin line between political and economic governance. Deficiencies in political governance may have a strong bearing on development. We cannot ignore that.