As parts of Asia soar economically, the Asian Development Bank has adopted a new strategy to meet the needs of the region. The bank will be doing more to support private sector projects to drive growth, rather than working mostly through governments as in the past. In addition, the environment will take a higher priority.

The Asian Development Bank says while Asia will not be immune to the global slowdown, economies in the region will continue to see solid growth in 2008. But the bank warns in its annual outlook that inflation in the region will jump this year.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday met with President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda on the sidelines of the ongoing Third Summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in Vientiane.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will issue $192 million worth of loans and grants to Tajikistan over the next three years for agricultural, regional, energy, social, and transport projects, an ADB spokesperson said Monday.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a grant of nearly one million U.S. dollars to help China advance reforms and ensure effective implementation of government policies.

The team, led by Juan Miranda, Director General of the Central and West Asia Department, discussed recent developments and future plans for cooperation with Mr. Rustam Azimov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and other senior government officials.

The chief of the Asian Development Bank says the organization will not sacrifice its efforts to help Asia's poor, despite a restructuring effort to offer services to increasingly wealthy nations. The Bank just wrapped up its annual Board of Governors' meeting in Japan, where delegates discussed the organization's future role.

Over the past 40 years, the Asian Development Bank has loaned billions of dollars to the poorest areas of the region. Now that much of the region is booming, the nonprofit institution is in the process of reinventing itself to tackle some of the problems created by economic success. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Kyoto, Japan, where ADB delegates and officials are holding their annual board of governors meeting.