The last two decades or so have seen considerable advances in thinking on development policies. The thinking in the late 1980s and early 1990s was very much guided by the Washington Consensus. Subsequent experiences of many countries, including those in Latin America and Africa, however, showed that the policy prescriptions based on the Washington Consensus did not always deliver the expected development outcomes. The disappointment with the Washington Consensus led to a continued search for new approaches to development strategy. A new consensus has in the meantime emerged that the economic and political environment differs a great deal among countries, and there is no “onesize- fits-all” solution to development problems; thus, identifying the binding constraints to development and sequencing policy priorities contingent on country-specific circumstances are critical for igniting and sustaining growth and accelerating the pace of poverty reduction.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is committed to achieving its vision of an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. This vision is restated in its recently adopted long-term strategic framework 2008–2020 (Strategy 2020), under which ADB will support its developing member countries to reduce poverty and improve their peoples' living conditions and quality of life. Strategy 2020 directs ADB to do so by focusing its development assistance, finance, policy advice, and knowledge solutions on three distinct but complementary development agendas: inclusive growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Under Strategy 2020, ADB is also committed to continuing efforts to enhance the effectiveness and results of its development aid.