Thank you very much Mr Kuroda. You and I have been colleagues for a long time including through your previous work with the Japanese Government. I understand it is your first visit to Australia in your capacity as the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), although you are no stranger to Australia and you know us quite well. Let me welcome you very warmly in your capacity as President of the ADB here to Australia.
Can I also acknowledge the representatives we have from Kirabati, Nauru, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands who are here today for the opening of this office. Welcome to you and we hope that this office becomes a very significant part of the ADB’s contribution to development in the Pacific.
Mr Kuroda, in the short time that you have been President of the ADB you have indicated a strong reform agenda and we in Australia endorse that. We believe that multilateral institutions have to work efficiently, that the resources that are entrusted to them are for the benefit of development and the relief of poverty. The extent to which that efficiency and accountability can be heightened in the multilateral banks themselves serves as a good example to the rest of us.
Australia has been a Member of the ADB since its foundation in 1966. We are a significant shareholder in the ADB and we look to the ADB, in cooperation with our own aid programmes, to make a significant difference in this part of the world.
Progress in East Asia has been one of the success stories of development in the last decade. East Asia as a whole has met the millennium development goal of halving poverty before the target date. This of course has been lead particularly by China, with the improvement in China’s living standards lifting overall standards for East Asia as a whole.
But there are other parts of the Asia Pacific region which still have not enjoyed that kind of prosperity - where poverty is still a scourge, where governance is a problem and where countries are still fighting corruption. In particular, in many of our friends and neighbours in the Pacific the standards of income have not improved substantially over the last decade.
And whilst there is legitimately a great focus on Africa at the moment, we in this part of the world don’t want to take our eyes off countries where poverty is still a scourge. That is why Australia has always had a focus on the Pacific, why we have always sought to engage the World Bank and ADB to maintain and increase a focus on this part of the world and why we especially welcome the opening of this office here in Sydney. Sydney is an international financial centre, it is a good place to have an office for a financial institution. It is also geographically focused on the Pacific where Australia stands ready to help and where we ask the Asian Development Bank to continue its focus and its good work towards the needs of countries in the Pacific who are struggling with poverty. What are the needs that they need to meet? Governance, anti-corruption, transparency, financial accountability, government responsiveness and efficiency, increased trade and increased investment. To these ends I think the policy advice role of the ADB will be just as important as the lending role in many of these countries.
We strongly endorse your strategic objectives of providing for an environment conducive to private sector investment and look to the Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office to play a key role in this area.
The Asia Pacific region has much to gain from pursuing market orientated and outward looking policies and the ADB will have a specific role in this area as well with its obligation to focus on regional, sub-regional and national projects and programmes which will contribute to the region as a whole.
Ultimately countries themselves of course have to take responsibility for their own economic future, but the international community, which stands ready to assist in those efforts, can make a useful contribution. The Australian Government understands this and will continue to provide assistance.
This office is one example of the ADB’s commitment to provide a fine service in the Pacific and I congratulate you on its inception. I am glad that Australia is able to provide a place where staff will be close to Pacific Members and where there are skills and infrastructure to support you in your work. Ultimately the success of this office will be judged by the success of its advice and lending programmes in the Pacific. We wish the staff all the best in these important operations. Thank you all very much for your time.