The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development finance institution and a regional development bank. It was formally established on December 19, 1966, with 31 founding members, and is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. The ADB was conceived in the early 1960s to be "Asian in character" and to foster economic growth and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, addressing the challenge of widespread poverty and the perceived uneven distribution of World Bank aid.
The ADB works by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to its developing member countries (DMCs) and the private sector to promote social and economic development. Its highest policymaking body is the Board of Governors, which elects the Board of Directors. The bank operates using a weighted voting system where a member's voting power is proportional to its capital subscription, a mechanism modeled closely on the World Bank. The ADB’s vision is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and it is often compared to the newer Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The institution has undergone significant recent changes to enhance its capacity and responsiveness. In 2023, the ADB launched its New Operating Model (NOM), its first major reorganization since 2002. Furthermore, in 2025, an amendment to the ADB Charter was approved to remove the bank's lending limitation, which enabled a 50% increase in financing capacity without requiring a general capital increase from shareholders. In 2026, the bank also approved the Rapid Resource Reprogramming and Deployment Option (3RDO), a new mechanism to accelerate crisis response by allowing DMCs to repurpose existing sovereign portfolio funds.