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The Government today (February 8) welcomed the approval by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council for Hong Kong to contribute an amount of about US$33 million (HK$260 million) to the 10th replenishment of the Asian Development Fund over nine years from 2013-14.
"Hong Kong's continuous support for the Asian Development Fund is a clear demonstration of our support for regional poverty reduction efforts. As a responsible member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Hong Kong should, along with other members, fully support the activities of the ADB as far as possible," a spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said.
The Asian Development Fund was established in 1973 by the ADB to provide concessionary financing to the most needy member economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The ADB helps these economies tackle poverty through a broad range of development activities, including infrastructure projects for road improvement, power distribution, water supply and sanitation, as well as development programmes in the education, health, agriculture and finance sectors.
Hong Kong has benefited from operations of the ADB. From 1972 to 1980, Hong Kong obtained five loans totalling US$101.5 million from the ADB to finance various infrastructure projects. All loans were repaid in full by 1987.
Hong Kong joined the ADB in 1969, and has been a donor of the Asian Development Fund since 1983.
Ends/Friday, February 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:59
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