MANILA, PHILIPPINES, July 13, 2010: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a visiting delegation from Bank of China (BoC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have agreed to explore a broad range of fresh opportunities for collaboration, including in the areas of regional trade finance, clean energy and infrastructure development, microfinance and institutional capacity building.

BoC officials, led by Executive Vice President Zaiqun Zhou, met ADB management and senior staff, including Vice-Presidents Lawrence Greenwood, Xiaoyu Zhao and Lakshmi Ventakachalam, for a series of discussions at ADB headquarters last Friday.

As a strategic investor, ADB has conducted five technical assistance projects for BoC since 2006, covering corporate governance, environmental safeguards, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, and operational risk management. It has also provided training under ADB’s Trade Finance Facilitation Program for BoC staff. ADB is currently the fifth largest shareholder of BoC and will remain a long-term strategic investor.

“ADB and BoC foresee several opportunities for enhanced collaboration in important areas over coming years with priorities including climate change and low-carbon development, infrastructure investment, regional trade finance, small- and medium-enterprise (SME) financing, microfinance, joint research and knowledge sharing, and corporate governance and risk management improvement,” said Philip Erquiaga, Director General of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department.

BoC is the largest trade financing bank in PRC, and ADB is looking to expand its Trade Finance Facilitation Program with support from BoC to reduce costs and risks, and increase trade among ADB’s developing member countries. The two institutions will also explore cofinancing of infrastructure projects for developing countries, and potential opportunities for promoting the development of public-private partnerships, small- and medium-enterprise financing, climate change finance, microfinance, and the use of credit guarantees.

BoC and ADB are working to establish a regular staff exchange program, with two corporate staff from BoC set to work in ADB’s South Asia Department later this year on infrastructure-related projects.

“All these initiatives show that there is huge potential and enormous opportunity for our future business and infrastructure cooperation,” said Mr. Zhou, BoC’s Executive Vice President.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2009, it approved a total of $16.1 billion in financing operations through loans, grants, guarantees, a trade finance facilitation program, equity investments, and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilized cofinancing amounting to $3.2 billion.

BoC is the most international and diversified bank in China, providing a comprehensive range of financial services to customers across the Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macau, and 29 overseas countries. As one of PRC's four leading commercial banks, it is aiming to build itself into a world-class banking institution and in recent years, has strengthened efforts to promote energy-efficiency, emission reduction, environmental protection, green finance, SME finance, and microfinance. BoC also plays a proactive role in facilitating sectoral restructuring, fulfilling social responsibility, promoting harmonized economic development and protecting the environment, in support of the government’s development strategies and industrial policies. INFN