Developing Asia Journalism Awards Finalists Selected

Tokyo (29 September) - The Asian Development Bank Institute is pleased to announce that its international panel of judges has now selected 22 finalists for its Developing Asia Journalism Awards. The finalists are: Imelda ABANO (Philippines), Leila ALIYEVA (Azerbaijan), Sithav AN (Cambodia), Yasmin Lee ARPON (Philippines), Parvaiz Ahmad BHAT (India), Jiban BISTA CHATTRI (Nepal), Yoke Heong CHEE (Malaysia), Raihan M. CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), Bobojohn IKROMOV (Tajikistan), Supriya KHANDEKAR (India), Moffat Ghala MAMU (Solomon Islands), Rajendra MANANDHAR (Nepal), Said Ahmad Maisam NAJAFIZADA (Afghanistan), Asyl OSMONALIEVA (Kyrgyz Republic), Samisoni PARETI (Fiji), Rith SAM (Cambodia), Farzana SHAH (Pakistan), Xiaohua SUN (People's Republic of China), Raknish WIJEWARDENE (Sri Lanka), Zaky YAMANI (Indonesia), Parista YUTHAMANOP (Thailand), and Yan ZHU (People's Republic of China).

The ADBI is very grateful to the approximately 200 journalists from developing Asia and the Pacific who submitted published articles written in 2008 or 2009 dealing with one of the following issues: (i) poverty impact of the global financial crisis; (ii) government responses to the global financial crisis; (iii) infrastructure development; and (iv) climate change adaptation.

The 22 finalists are being invited to Tokyo for a four-day training program running from 20-23 October 2009 that the ADBI is organizing in cooperation with International Institute for Journalism of InWEnt - Capacity Building International, Germany (www.inwent.org/iij) that will be organizing training sessions on economic and financial literacy, and also environmental literacy. The training program will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss and debate the above four issues with leading experts.

The awards ceremony will be held in the evening of Friday 23 October at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Winners of each of the four thematic categories, as well as two special prizes for (i) Development Journalist of the Year; and (ii) Young Development Journalist of the Year (under 30 years of age), will be selected from the 22 finalists.

For further inquiries, please contact the Journalism Training & Awards Group.

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The Tokyo-based ADB Institute, organizing and sponsoring the awards, was established in 1997 to help build capacity and knowledge related to poverty reduction and other areas that support long-term growth in developing economies in Asia and the Pacific.