The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was established in 1966. The organisation currently has 68 members. Its head office is located in Manila, capital of the Philippines.

The main objective of the organisation is to assist Asian countries in economic development and the eradication of poverty. The organisation allocates loans, technical assistance and grants to the countries with which it cooperates in order to achieve its goals.

Masatsugu Asakawa is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) since January 2020. Since Japan is the largest shareholder in the bank, the president is also from Japan.

Azerbaijan joined ADB on October 29, 1999, and the strategy of operations in Azerbaijan was approved in 2000. The representative office of the organisation has been operating in Azerbaijan since November 2004.

At the ADB Board of Directors,  Anthony McDonald is the Executive Director for Azerbaijan and Kendis McDicken is the director of office in Azerbaijan. 

The 48th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board was held in Baku in 2015.

Total loans, grants and technical assistance in the energy sector worth 1.193.65 USD million was approved.

ADB has so far allocated loans, grants and technical assistance to implement more than 80 projects in the public and private sectors in Azerbaijan. As a result of the implementation of the projects and programmes supported by the ADB, 485,000 people have been provided with constant drinking water, 240,000 people have been protected from floods, 100,000 households have been provided with electricity and 325 kms of roads have been built or repaired.

The ADB approved a new five-year strategy for Azerbaijan for 2019-2023, which consists of three strategic priorities:
−    Strengthening the development of the private sector;
−    Increasing the effectiveness of the public sector;
−    Improving infrastructure and strengthening human resources.

The total amount of loans, grants and technical assistance allocated by ADB to Azerbaijan so far is $5 billion:
−    Energy – $1.9 million;
−    Transportation – $1.4 billion;
−    State Administration – $1 billion;
−    Infrastructure – $583 million;
−    Finance – $214 million;
−    Agriculture - $1.2 million;
−    Healthcare - $0.6 million.

ADB has provided loans and grants for the following:
−    Shah Deniz II project: $1,250 million
−    ‘The Reconstruction of the Power Distribution Network’ project: $750 million out of a total of $1 billion.
−    ‘The Improvement of Efficiency Improvement and Management Programme in the Public Sector’ project: $500 million
−    An intended grant worth $800,000 in order to support the reforms put forward by the Government of Azerbaijan.

ADB has provided technical assistance to the following projects:
−    A pilot project that offers dormitories and services to university students in Baku through a public-private partnership (2018-2019)
−    Rapid Response Support for Strategic Reforms (2017-2020)
−    The project ‘Preparatory Technical Assistance for Azerbaijan Shah Deniz Stage II Investment Plan’ (2016-2019)
−    Development of Non-bank Finance and Alternative Financial Instruments for Economic Diversification (2018-2020)
−    For the railway sector development programme (2017-2020)
−    Financial Recovery Plan for the Energy Sector (2016-2019)

ADB has cooperated in the field of renewable energy sources through the pilot project ’Knowledge Exchange and Technical Assistance on the Development of Floating Solar Panel Systems’.
-    Within the project, it is planned to establish a photovoltaic system with a capacity of up to 100 kW in Lake Boyukshor, as well as to strengthen the national capacity through trainings and develop business models in order to promote the participation of the private sector in the installation of PV plants.
-    The Asian Development Bank started the project in 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2021.
-    The project is implemented in accordance with the goal of ensuring fully diversified and ecologically clean electricity production of the "Strategic Roadmap on the development of utilities (electricity and heat energy, water and gas) in the Republic of Azerbaijan".
-    A working group was established to ensure the implementation of the project by the relevant order of the Ministry of Energy.
-    Work is underway to issue the necessary permits and to give feedbacks for the approval of the installation of solar panels on the 800 square-mile Boyuk-Shor lake shore, as well as allocation of 75 square-mile land area and for the installation of ancillary buildings and panels on the land.  
-    The procurement procedure for installation of the photovoltaic system started.
-    A meeting was held with the consulting company selected by ADB and the execution process was discussed.
-    According to the instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture, the Baku City Executive Power and the State Committee on Property Issues are carrying out the necessary procedures for the allocation of land.
-    The first meeting of the Working Group was held on 18 January 2019. At the meeting, the memory record presented by the Asian Development Bank, the presentation of the final preliminary report on Azerbaijan and the unresolved issues, difficulties or other issues affecting the implementation of the project were discussed. As a result of the meeting, the report on Azerbaijan was submitted to the Ministry.
-    On 16 July 2019, the report on the preliminary assessment of the environmental impact on the Development of Floating Solar Energy Systems project was submitted to the ministries of Energy and Ecology and Natural Resources. MENR expressed its ecological opinion on the document.
-    On 18 July 2019, a public discussion on the project “Development of floating solar energy systems” was held at Sabunchu Youth House. The representatives of Asian Development Bank, Ministry of Energy, “Tamiz Shahar” OJSC, Sabunchu District Executive Power, “Azerbaijan Energy Engineering and Consulting” LLC, municipalities operating in Sabunchu, settlement executive representatives, public organizations and relevant persons attended at the event.
-    On 17 September 2019, a meeting was held in connection with the implementation of the pilot project "Exchange of knowledge on the development of floating solar panels system and technical assistance support". At the meeting, discussions were held on procurement procedures, regulations, detailed execution rules, identification and evaluation of local potential contractors, capacity building on the use of facilities.