2007年4月2日 亚行应"少关注扶贫"

今日将发布的一份报告认为，鉴于亚洲各经济体如此成功，盈余资金非常充沛，亚洲开发银行(Asian Development Bank)未来15年必须积极改革，否则就有可能与其主要贷款客户脱节。

Asian economies are so successful and rich in surplus capital that the Asian Development Bank must change radically in the next 15 years or risk becoming irrelevant to its main borrowers, according to a report to be published today.

由亚行行长黑田东彦(Haruhiko Kuroda)召集的杰出人士小组(Eminent Persons Group)撰写的这份报告表示，亚洲贫困水平的迅速下降，对由银行将盈余资金从发达国家转移至贫困发展中国家的传统模式提出了疑问。

The report - prepared by an Eminent Persons Group convened by Haruhiko Kuroda, the ADB president - says the rapid decline of Asian poverty calls into question the old model of a bank transferring surplus capital from the developed world to needy developing countries.

世界银行(World Bank)的预测认为，到2020年，将有95%的东亚人生活在中等收入国家，届时，在20亿东亚人口中，将只有不到2500万人生活在贫困线以下。

World Bank projections suggest that 95 per cent of east Asians will live in middle-income countries by 2020, and fewer than 25m out of 2bn east Asians will live below the poverty line by then.

"在发生这种转变后的亚洲，传统的开发银行业务模式……将变得多余，"报告表示。"从亚洲明显的成功中可以看出，亚开行必须更迅速地演化发展，以适应亚洲地区新的、迅速变化的经济和政治环境--否则就有可能与主要客户脱节。"

"In this transformed Asia, the traditional model of development banking ... will become redundant," the report says. "It is clear in light of Asia's obvious successes that ADB must evolve more rapidly to suit the region's new and fast-evolving economic and political environment - or risk becoming irrelevant to its major clients."

亚行等传统国际开发机构面临的一个问题是，中国国家开发银行(China Development Bank)等中国银行正在抢走它们的生意。这些银行可以向非洲、拉美或亚洲较贫困地区提供有竞争力的贷款，贷款条件也没有那么繁复。

One problem for conventional international development institutions such as the ADB is that they are being undercut by Chinese lenders such as the China Development Bank. These banks can offer competitive loans and less onerous conditions to borrowers in Africa, Latin America or the poorer parts of Asia.

今年1月，菲律宾国家水务机构MWSS放弃亚行，转而向中国进出口银行(China Export-Import Bank)贷款，理由是中方银行提供的贷款利率更低，审批过程也更快。

In January, MWSS, a state water agency in the Philippines, switched its borrowing to the China Export-Import Bank from the ADB on the grounds that the Chinese were offering cheaper rates and faster approval.

报告撰写者们建议亚行对运作方式进行重大改革。这些撰写者由联合国贸易和发展会议(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)秘书长素帕猜o巴尼巴滴(Supachai Panitchpakdi)牵头。

The group of authors, chaired by Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, recommends big changes in the way the ADB operates.

报告主张，亚行应减少目前对减贫的关注，转而强调环保的可持续性增长，发挥金融中介的作用，充当亚洲内部借款者与贷款者的桥梁。 It argues the ADB should reduce its current emphasis on poverty reduction, stress environmentally sustainable growth, and act as a financial intermediary to connect borrowers and lenders within Asia.