OREANDA-NEWS. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is reaffirming its long-term commitment and partnership with the Government of Thailand to continue helping the country achieve its development goals, ADB Vice-President Stephen P. Groff said during an event in Bangkok today celebrating 50 years of development partnership between ADB and Thailand.

The event, jointly organized by ADB's Thailand Resident Mission and the Ministry of Finance, was opened by Finance Minister and ADB Governor for Thailand Apisak Tantivorawong. Key ADB counterparts in Thailand including government officials, private sector representatives, development partners, academia, civil society advocates, and members of the media were also in attendance.

“Thailand, as one the founding member countries, played a vital role in ADB’s establishment in 1966,” said Mr. Groff. “Over the past 50 years, ADB is proud to have participated in Thailand’s transformation, as well as the rest of Asia and the Pacific.”

Since ADB’s first loan to Thailand in 1968 that laid the foundation for the country’s manufacturing boom in the 1980s and the early 1990s, ADB has provided financial and technical support with almost $8 billion in transport infrastructure, power, water supply, agriculture, finance development, as well as regional cooperation and integration.

To mark 50 years of development partnership between ADB and Thailand, a publication titled ADB and Thailand: A Development Partnership toward Inclusive Growth was launched, to reflect on ADB’s contribution to Thailand’s development journey.