Whois & Analysis for adb.org

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.

The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social and economic development in Asia.

The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries.

From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.

The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members' capital subscriptions.

ADB releases an annual report that summarizes its operations, budget and other materials for review by the public.

A development finance institution (DFI) is an alternative financial institution which includes microfinance institutions, community development financial institution and revolving loan funds.

These institutions provide a crucial role in providing credit in the form of higher risk loans, equity positions and risk guarantee instruments to private sector investments in developing countries.

DFIs are backed by states with developed economies.

In 2005, total commitments (as loans, equity, guarantees and debt securities) of the major regional, multilateral and bilateral DFIs totalled US$45 billion (US$21.3 billion of which went to support the private sector).

For other forms of development, see Development (disambiguation).

International development or global development is a wide concept concerning the level of development on an international scale.

It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country.

There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting development of a country.

Development aid (also development assistance, technical assistance, international aid, overseas aid, official development assistance (ODA), or foreign aid) is financial aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries.

It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by focusing on alleviating poverty in the long term, rather than a short term response.

Poverty is general scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.

It is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements.

Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the lack of means necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

Absolute poverty is meant to be about the same independent of location.

Relative poverty occurs when people in a country do not enjoy a certain minimum level of living standards as compared to the rest of the population and so would vary from country to country, sometimes within the same country.