Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (Photo: ADB)Asakawa made his statement at the ADB's Southeast AsiaDevelopment Symposium 2021, themed “Innovation through Collaboration: Planningfor Inclusive Post-COVID-19 Recovery”, which took place virtually on March 17.
In his speech, the president noted: “The COVID-19 pandemicpresents an opportunity to rebuild our economy and society with more resilientand sustainable infrastructure. It has opened up new ways of doing business inmany sectors.”
He said the three areas critical to a strong recoveryconsist of green recovery, big data, and domestic resource mobilisation.
According to him, the ADB estimates that green growthinterventions could generate over 30 million jobs in Southeast Asia by 2030. Meanwhile,regional countries can capitalise on this digital transformation opportunitiesby making better use of big data to transform key government sectors such ashealthcare, social protection, and education, allowing for more effectiveservice delivery. Governments and the private sector can also leverage big datafor better supply chain management across Southeast Asia.
Domestic resource mobilisation not only helps securesufficient funding but also creates positive conditions to spark greener andmore inclusive recovery, added Asakawa.
He concluded that all measures mentioned above requireknowledge sharing and collaboration.
The two-day symposium gathered more than 3,400 participantsfrom governments, the private sector, academia, think tanks, and NGOs from over100 countries and territories.
The ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive,resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts toeradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members – 49 fromthe region./.
VNA
