“It (the meeting) presents an opportunity to focus the global spotlight on India’s emerging potential as an investment destination against the backdrop of its robust economic fundamentals of more than 8% growth,” said Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram. – AFP

India, a founding member of the ADB and its fourth-largest shareholder, is planning to showcase its economic strength during the meeting held in this hi-tech southern city.

ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali has also sounded the alarm over a looming “Asian unemployment crisis” with at least half a billion of the region’s 1.7bn workers unemployed or under-employed, with 245mn new workers expected in the next decade.

It warned of the impact of high oil prices and a possible bird flu pandemic in the region which has seen the vast majority of human deaths from the disease.

In a report released this month, the ADB also noted huge disparities between nations on the money they received from trade in goods and services and transfer payments from abroad.

But it said a “disorderly unraveling of the global payment imbalances, the possibility of a pandemic from human-to-human contact of the avian flu virus, high oil prices, or a surge in trade protectionism would unsettle the outlook.”

The ADB has said the meeting was taking place when the Asia and Pacific region “is economically buoyant”, predicting overall economic expansion of 7.2% in 2006 and 7% in 2007.

Souparna Lahiri, co-ordinator of the People’s Forum, said “street-corner” meetings have started here “as a build-up to the big May 5 rally” on Friday.

“We will top it and at least 7,000 protesters will be there in Hyderabad.”

“During the 2000 meeting of ADB in Thailand, about 5,000 protesters participated,” said Kuruvilla.

Protesters will call on the ADB to cut poverty faster and spend more on defences against high oil prices and bird flu.

More than 2,500 global delegates including finance ministers, business leaders and representatives from international organisations will discuss how to alleviate poverty in the region.

The ADB has said the four-day annual general meeting from tomorrow will focus on development challenges facing Asia-Pacific nations, home to two-thirds of the world’s poor.

“We believe the state has a crucial role to play. They give very little funds but have a large say in influencing (government) policy decisions,” he said.

“This is an organisation which is not transparent, accountable and believes that the market is the answer to everything,” said Benny Kuruvilla, spokesman for the People’s Forum Against ADB, an umbrella group of more than 70 non-governmental organisations.

Organisers said up to 7,000 people would take part in rallies and demonstrations against the Manila-based lender in the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

HYDERABAD: Protesters gathered here yesterday ahead of this week’s annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which they accuse of wielding too much power without accountability.