23 April 2009: Summary of Advisory Council Meeting

On Thursday, 23 April 2009, the first meeting of the Advisory Council (AC) in 2009 took place at ADBI in Tokyo. AC members supported the vision and strategic directions of the Dean for ADBI to be a reputable think tank and knowledge center to which policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders look for information, analysis, and advice, and which leads the discussion and drives the process on emerging medium-to-long-term development issues in Asia and the Pacific. One of the special features of ADBI is that it presents a multilateral assessment of emerging issues rather than perspectives of one country only. AC members noted with appreciation that ADBI had responded quickly to the guidance of the AC by addressing in a systematic and comprehensive manner issues relating to the global financial crisis. They stressed that it is important for ADBI to develop special perspectives and strategic directions for its activities. Regional cooperation and integration was one of such perspectives, the suitability of globalization was another. ADBI should provide policy advice to ADB's regional members to assist them in their development.

AC members endorsed the strategic priorities of ADBI's research program for 2009 presented by the Director of Research, stating that ADBI's Flagship Study was a good ADB-ADBI initiative and expected to have a big impact. AC members stressed the high multiplier effect of investments in infrastructure. This message should be publicized and be placed in ADBI's “shop window”. AC members commended ADBI for the “stunning” number of 22 conferences which will be organized under the global financial and economic crisis (financial crisis) project and for the fact that more than 100 research outputs are expected to be published as working papers under that project. Considering this high number of research outputs it was essential to guarantee the consistency and high quality of ADBI's knowledge products. In response to queries by AC members, Dean, ADBI and Director of Research clarified that notwithstanding the high number of planned research outputs, ADBI is pursuing in the context of the financial crisis project, quality rather than quantity and has put in place various mechanisms to ensure quality control. In accordance with the ADBI Statute, the main target group of ADBI's research and CBT activities is middle to top level policymakers. ADBI seeks to ensure that its research and CBT activities are relevant to the needs of this target group, in particular, but others who can make use of the research outputs—such as practitioners and academics—are also targeted.

AC members expressed their support for the proposed CBT work program and the proposed approach that CBT activities should be demand-driven, focused, and exploit synergies with ADBI's Research Department and ADB headquarters and with other organizations and agencies with required expertise. Some suggestions were made for ADBI to consider CBT activities in the field of risk management and for ADB resident missions to be involved in organizing CBT activities in their countries, including holding these events in local languages. ADBI staff clarified that ADBI has been cooperating closely with ADB resident missions on a number of CBT activities that were held outside Tokyo and that CBT materials had been translated into various local languages to facilitate learning by local participants.

The AC members commended ADBI for the fact that the number of books and other ADBI publications had greatly increased and expressed their appreciation over the high quality of the ADBI website and the constant increase in the number of web hits. They observed that ADBI might enhance the impact of its outreach activities by making greater use of new technologies (e.g. by transmitting ADBI conferences and speeches to the general public through video sharing websites such as “YouTube” or by using podcasts to transmit information).