ADB’s Second Decade (1977–1986) (updated edition)

The Asia and Pacific region continued to grow despite a difficult external global environment, demonstrating resilience after a second oil shock and the international debt crisis that followed.

This volume shows how ADB responded to the growing diversity among its developing member countries. During this decade, ADB sought to position itself as a “regional resource center” with a broader role of providing not only financial assistance but becoming a center of new thinking on development issues in the region. ADB moved closer to the ground by opening its first Resident Office in Bangladesh in 1982. New lending products were introduced, including program and sector lending, direct lending to private sector without government guarantees, and equity investment. As the decade closed, two key historical landmarks occurred: ADB made its first loan to India, and the People’s Republic of China became a member.

ADB through the Decades

The 5-volume publication, ADB through the Decades, provides a historical account of how ADB has evolved to respond to the dynamic changes across the Asia and Pacific region over the past 5 decades.

With the specialized report, A History of Financial Management at Asian Development Bank: Engineering Financial Innovation and Impact on an Emerging Asia, this 5-volume series serves as a companion to the ADB corporate history book to be launched in 2017. Together, these publications provide the first comprehensive corporate narrative on ADB’s history since the previous ADB history book, A Bank for Half the World, was published in 1987.