Business News
ADB, Germany to help improve living conditions in Asian cities
By DPA
Feb 6, 2007, 11:30 GMT

   Manila - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Germany on Tuesday launched a joint initiative that would help improve the lives of up to 200 million people in Asia's growing cities.

   The new Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) would support local governments in implementing their urban development efforts, the Manila-based ADB said in a statement.

   ADB Vice President Ursula Schaefer Preus said the CDIA would be a innovative way to build new investments of up to 10 billion dollars in Asia's cities in sanitation, urban transport, waste management and other urban infrastructure.

   'We believe that a well-coordinated, multi-donor initiative can contribute significantly toward improving the living conditions of people in Asian cities,' she said.

   'The long-term outcomes for the CDIA will be improved incomes and a better quality of life for Asia's urban citizens,' she added. 'The CDIA will also reduce the impact of city growth on global environment.'

   The initiative was announced at the end of a conference on investing in Asia's urban future organized by the ADB and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

   'Our goal is to bring about lasting improvements in the living conditions of the urban poor, to limit negative environmental consequences of urban growth, and to make use of cities' potential for national development,' said Karin Kortmann, Parliamentary State Secretary at BMZ and ADB Governor for Germany.

   The CDIA would focus on supporting cities for better urban management, It would also cooperate with existing networks for sharing and adoping best practices.

   'The idea of the initiative is broader than to facilitate investments,' according to Klemens van de Sand, Commissioner for Asia at the BMZ.

   'The CDIA should develop into a center of excellence based on common goals and contributions by all actors involved,' he said in a statement.