Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Committee Profile

ADB is a regional development bank, established on December 19th, 1966. It is headquartered in Mandaluyong, Philippines, with 31 field offices worldwide. Its main mission is to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis began as a currency crisis that started off in Thailand in July 1997, which then took over much of Southeast Asia for the rest of the 90s. To prevent this outcome, there are three main issues that the ADB must resolve:

Fixed currency exchange rates - before 1997, most Southeast Asian nations pegged their currencies to the US dollar. Due to increasingly risky investments by both domestic and foreign institutions in the region, strong downward speculative pressure had developed on many Southeast Asian currencies. By 1997, some nations’ foreign exchange reserves had depleted, forcing them to stop defending their currency from devaluation. Failure to find a proper alternative currency exchange system could lead to uncontrolled devaluation hurting the lives of millions.

Capital flight - a large influx of foreign investments since the mid-1990s has created a large pool of “hot money”. Failure to address this could lead to the hollowing out of the entire economy and may result in a self-fulfilling prophecy of total economic collapse in Southeast Asia, from which ADB nations may take decades to recover.

Global intervention - in response to the crisis, the Western World and the IMF may offer support, but only in exchange for severe policy concessions. The ADB must decide on whether to accept the IMF and the Western world order or find fiscal and monetary policies that allow them to remain economically independent.

This committee will operate as a Specialized Committee and will combine both crisis and GA elements, including updates and directive cycles, in order to resolve the Asian Financial Crisis.

Chair Letter

Dear Delegates,

My name is Kanta Sakabe, and I will be serving as the Chair of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). I am a sophomore here at UCLA, currently majoring in Political Science with a planned double major in economics. I have had the privilege of living in Tokyo, Paris, London, New York, Chicago, and now Los Angeles, which initially fueled my passion for foreign relations. How, my primary interests lay in East Asian foreign policy, particularly concerning economic and military policies.

My career in political debates started in my freshman year of high school when I joined their Model Congress team. Eventually, I found myself signing up again and again for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs or the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In college, I joined UCLA Model UN in the fall of my sophomore year, and through experiences both as a travel team delegate and as a LAMUN staff member, I have had the opportunity to continue pursuing my diplomatic passion. Public speaking, quick thinking, and most importantly, fostering friendly rivalry have been some of the skills I have been able to develop throughout the years. Hopefully, you will be able to feel the same.

ADB is a regional development bank, established on December 19th, 1966. It is headquartered in Mandaluyong, Philippines, with 31 field offices around the world, promoting social and economic development in Asia. While simulating the ADB, and the challenges it has had to face over the years, remember the resounding impact of the topics and deliberations you engage in; the issue of economic development often holds the fate of entire nations or regions, as well as those who live in them. Remember that ADB’s mission is to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. As members of this committee, you must transcend the typical political power struggles, and place ensuring ADB’s missions have been met at the center of each discussion and resolution.

Welcome to ADB. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. I wish all of you the best in your research, and hope you enjoy the conference!

Kanta Sakabe | Chair | BruinMUN 31

adb@bruinmun.org