Dominguez urges ADB to help countries cope with tech strides

MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) should assist its member-countries to adapt properly amid the age of fast and disruptive technological advances, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said over the weekend.

Dominguez, who chairs the ADB Board of Governors this year, said the bank should help “future-proof” its partner countries by aiding them in harnessing advances in digital technology.

He said the ADB can play a vital role in ensuring the risks of rapid and disruptive innovations are mitigated, and the rewards are evenly distributed.

“The ADB, as the region’s main concourse of development ideas, should help member countries to better harness the forces of technological change. It needs to develop the means to support member countries from falling into the wrong side of the digital divide,” Dominguez said in his speech during the opening session of the 51st annual meeting of the ADB Board of Governors.

Technologies present communities the opportunity to improve productivity, but also poses risks, such as the eradication of jobs and worsening inequality, Dominguez said.

He said these would radically transform the way societies are structured, as they would demand new skills which schools are not prepared to provide, produce virtual constituencies, and introduce virtual currencies the government is not prepared to regulate.

Dominguez said institutions must either flow with the technological tide or be swept away by it.

According to Dominguez, the ADB’s Strategy 2030 could serve as a good beginning to align the bank’s thrust towards helping countries cope with the technological age.

During his speech, Dominguez commended ADB President Takehiko Nakao for being committed to the bank’s long term vision, and willingness to reinvent the institution’s programs.

The secretary also noted how hosting the ADB headquarters over the past five decades “has been a source of immense pride for the Philippines.”

He said locating the bank in Manila brought it close to the realities of an emerging economy and an ample supply of talented English-speaking personnel.

“The partnership between the ADB and the Philippines has been an especially fruitful one. The ADB has been a reliable and responsive partner in mobilizing resources and technical support needed for our development,” he said.

The finance chief also cited the ADB’s role in the economic achievement of the Asia-Pacific region, with China and India emerging as the principal engines of growth for the global economy and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprising some of the fastest growing economies in the world.