22 December 2003

Nomination of Australian Alternate Director to The Asian Development Bank

The Treasurer today announced the nomination of Mr Richard Moore, a senior official with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), to the position of Alternate Director at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila for a term of three years.

Mr Moore will fill the position of Alternate Director at the ADB from March 2004. His salary and allowances will be paid by the ADB.

As Alternate Director, Mr Moore will assist the Director, Mr Stephen Sedgwick, in representing a constituency of countries within the ADB, the members of which are: Australia; Azerbaijan; Cambodia; Hong Kong, China; Kiribati; Federated States of Micronesia; Nauru; Solomon Islands; and Tuvalu.

Mr Moore has extensive knowledge of the ADB's field of operations in the Asian region, and has experience working on Papua New Guinea and Pacific programs. Prior to his nomination, Mr Moore held the position of Assistant Director General of AusAID's Mekong, South Asia and Africa Branch. Before joining AusAID in 1995, Mr Moore was an adviser to a number of Commonwealth Ministers, and has also been a Visiting Lecturer in Economics at the University of South Australia.

Australia has been a member of the ADB since it was established in 1966 to assist the economic and social development of countries of the Asia and Pacific region. Australia remains one of the most significant shareholders in the Bank. The work of the ADB is regarded as of considerable importance in its own right and as a vital complement to Australia's bilateral aid programs in the region.