ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Subject : International Organisations

Context : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it had allocated $20.3 million in aid to developing member countries to access COVID-19 vaccines and establish systems to enable equitable vaccine distribution.

Concept :

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.
• ADB aims to promote social and economic development in Asia.
• The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and non-regional developed countries.
• The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system.
• From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 68 members.
• ADB is an official United Nations Observer.
• India was a founding member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1966 and is now the bank’s fourth largest shareholder and top borrower.
• ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).