At the ADB's last Annual Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, thousands of Thai villagers demonstrated for three days outside the Bank's meeting place demanding that the Bank stop several projects. The ADB is hoping to avoid controversy by holding its upcoming meeting in Honolulu. Together with the World Bank and the Japanese government, the ADB has also played a major role in promoting deregulation, economic liberalization and privatization in the region over the last 34 years. Our tax dollars go toward supporting this little known and unaccountable institution. A board of 12 Executive Directors governs the operations of the ADB and its 2000-person staff.
Poverty is a vivid reality for millions living in Asia.
The ADB promotes and imposes a development model based on rapid economic growth and free market reforms. These policies fail to recognize the value of subsistence livelihoods and their contributions to national economies. ADB-supported infrastructure projects, such as roads and dams, have destroyed the natural resource base upon which communities depend and have damaged the social fabric of the region. At the same time, these projects serve to transfer money and resources into the hands of local elite and foreign corporations. The ADB's plans for privatizing basic government services in the region have largely backfired as prices have skyrocketed and the poor can no longer afford energy and water services.