2022 ADBI Annual Conference Spotlights Supply Chain Resilience Solutions for Uncertain Conditions

Tokyo, Japan – Senior officials and experts discussed strategies for building supply chain resilience to mitigate global threats to food and energy security and promote recovery among Asia’s trade-reliant developing economies during the virtual 2022 ADBI Annual Conference.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa opened the conference by underscoring the urgent need for Asia and the Pacific to build more resilient supply chains, which have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. He noted that ADB is helping its developing member countries meet trade and supply chain disruptions with measures that include $14 billion to address food security between 2022 and 2025 and $100 billion in climate finance between 2019 and 2030.

World Customs Organization Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya explained how regulatory and human capital development can facilitate the interoperability of post-trade services crucial to lowering cross-border transaction costs and enhancing small business trade growth in the digital era.

2022 World Food Prize Laureate Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies urged consolidated climate resilience measures to support sustainable food systems.

Other experts described research-based approaches for driving trade and transportation after COVID-19, addressing financial and climate risks, and easing supply chain disruptions linked to COVID-19, trade tensions, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 2022 ADBI Annual Conference, the institute’s 25th, was guided by ADBI’s Dean Tetsushi Sonobe and researchers and set the stage for the virtual ADBI 25th anniversary celebration.