ADB's 56th annual meeting comes to Incheon

Meeting set to attract 5,000 participants including Asian finance leaders

By Lee Yeon-woo

The 56th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is set to take place from Tuesday to Friday at Songdo Convensia, Incheon. This will be the ADB's first in-person event since the COVID-19 outbreak and is expected to be the largest in scale, according to the bank.

Around 5,000 representatives from around the world, including finance ministers, central bank governors, officials from international organizations and representatives from the private sector, have already registered to attend the meeting.

Korea will host the four-day event as the chair country. Under the theme of “Rebounding Asia: Recover, Reconnect, and Reform,” Korea aims to promote deeper mutual understanding and economic cooperation between economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

In line with the ADB's mission to eradicate poverty in Asia, various events focusing on the economic recovery of the Asia-Pacific region will take place during the meeting. These events will include business sessions, seminars and other programs.

Following the opening session on Wednesday, the ADB board of governors will approve on the third day of the meeting the bank's budget, action plans and main agenda for 2024. The governors will also use the meeting as an opportunity to discuss current economic issues.

Policy coordination between countries is also expected to take place. The finance ministry has announced that two high-profile meetings will be held on Tuesday: one between finance ministers and central bank governors from Korea, China, and Japan, and another among ASEAN+3 countries.

In addition, the Korean government will promote Korean culture through various programs, including promotion halls for Korean culture and tourism. There will also be a Korean Culture Night event featuring the K-pop group, NewJeans, and male vocal quartet, Forestella.

To support Korean companies enter overseas markets, a promotional event for private and public firms will be held as well.

Around 70 events will take place concurrently during the meeting, according to the finance ministry.

This is Korea's third time hosting the bank's annual meeting, following events in Seoul in 1970 and Jeju Island in 2004. As the founding member of the bank and having received billions of dollars of financial assistance from it, Korea is the only country that has successfully transformed its status from recipient to donor.

The government hopes to share its experience in economic development with the international community and propose Asia's future agenda during the meeting.

As part of these efforts, a “climate innovation and technology knowledge hub” will be launched in Korea next year and the country has already pledged to replenish the e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund.