There has been a notable five-fold increase in the Asian Development Bank’s portfolio from US $500 million in 2006 to US $2.6 billion at the end of 2016.
This was highlighted by the Attorney General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in Yokohama, Japan.
Sayed‑Khaiyum who addressed the meeting on behalf of fourteen Pacific Developing Member Countries acknowledged and thanked the ADB for scaling up its support and increased presence in the Pacific.
He says the Pacific Developing Member Countries has a population of approximately 11 million people spread out over hundreds of small islands spread over an oceanic expanse of 161 million square kilometres.
He says our greater vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters results in more drain on government revenue and resources to meet the adaptation and rehabilitation efforts which in turn constrains funds needed to expand the network and the size of our infrastructure to spur growth on a sustainable basis.
He says the Pacific Developing Member Countries will continue to work as a collective group to support each other in the global arena, such as in the upcoming COP23 meeting in November in Bonn, Germany when Fiji will formally assume the Presidency.
Sayed-Khaiyum says as part of Fiji’s Presidency, they wish to get the global community to understand the need to adjust the current skewered arrangement of the Climate Finance Facility.
He says instead of 80% of these funds being skewered to mitigation and only 20% for adaptation, they must get more funds allocated for adaptation from the current pool of funds.
Sayed-Khaiyum says while Pacific Developing Member Countries may be on the coal face of bearing the brunt of climate change in particular through rising sea levels and heightened and erratic climate events, climate change is a global issue.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it has an impact on food security, sustainability of livelihoods, our biodiversity and quality of life.
