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| Thursday, 31 July 2003 |
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Infrastructure critical for poverty reduction NEW DELHI, INDIA - There is a strong linkage between infrastructure investments and poverty reduction, members of a high-level ADB team told the Ministry of Finance and Planning Commission in India. The ADB team, led by Special Advisor to the President, Greet van der Linden, has just completed discussions with the Ministry as part of an overall review of ADB's Poverty Reduction Strategy, which was adopted in 1999. van der Linden stressed the need to obtain the views of developing countries in the course of the overall review and noted that consultations are being held in six ADB developing member countries: the People's Republic of China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Indu Bhushan, Principal Economist, Social Sectors Division, Mekong Department, ADB said that studies by ADB and others have established a strong linkage between infrastructure investments, economic growth and poverty reduction. Hence, the mission's consultations focused on the critical importance of infrastructure development to the success of the strategy in India - particularly in transport, energy and the urban sector. Such development includes rural roads, rural electrification and assured irrigation as well as systems of power grids and national highways, which link poor rural producers to their power sources and to their markets in towns, cities and ports. The team also met representatives of voluntary agencies, government agencies implementing ADB projects, academia and international agencies. Sudipto Mundle, India Chief Economist for ADB, said that the Government and other partners supported ADB's poverty reduction strategy, which is based on the three pillars of pro-poor sustainable economic growth, inclusive of social development, and good governance. The review team also discussed the importance of the rural economy, which continues to sustain 74% of the poor in India, and the central role of improving governance in addressing the needs of the poor. The actual operational strategy for each country is prepared after consultation with the Government and other stakeholders. A country strategy and program was prepared for India earlier this year, which mainstreams poverty reduction through growth as the central goal of ADB operations in India. The overall review of ADB's poverty reduction strategy is expected to be completed before the end of the year. |
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