President Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and President Luis Alberto Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) formalized a staff exchange program between the two Banks in the context of their South-South Cooperation Initiative. This program will broaden and deepen the longstanding collaboration between the two institutions.
Meant to foster further cooperation and knowledge exchange on shared priority areas, the program was agreed upon under the Partnership Framework that has united both institutions since November 2009. Intended also to facilitate the development and exchange of ideas, the program is expected to help each institution better serve their clients and enhance professional expertise. Additionally, the program signifies growing South-South and Triangular Cooperation between the Asia-Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean regions.
Economic relations between the two regions are ever growing, and the ADB-IDB relationship has worked diligently in the past few years to further expand and enhance these ties. United by a joint commitment to promoting poverty reduction and inclusive growth, the parties see much potential for collaboration as their respective regions share many development challenges and opportunities.
The 2012 “Shaping the Future” report, which was co-authored by both institutions, discusses the future of ADB-IDB cooperation in areas such as trade and economic integration, climate change, institutional development, social policy, and conditional cash transfers, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in the Asia-LAC relationship and the unique role of the ADB-IDB partnership in navigating them. The staff exchange program is expected to further define this role as they work toward accelerated development together, as well as providing new development opportunities for their respective clients in the years to come.