BY MELANIE GILLBANK
The Peoples' Forum 2000 and the mass protests which followed, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in early May, were born of suffering, anger and betrayal. Twelve hundred people attended the forum to share their stories of hardship and loss as a direct result of Asian Development Bank-financed projects and structural adjustment programs.
The forum, sponsored by a network of 38 non-government organisations, was an open alternative to the ADB's annual general meeting, which ran from May 6-8. The majority of speakers and participants were poor villagers and farmers from all over Thailand; representatives from many donor countries were also present.
Despite the ADB's rhetoric about consultation and participation, its president, Tadao Chino, declined an invitation to attend the forum.
The forum's declaration criticised the ADB for its lack of accountability and its lack of adequate community consultation regarding specific projects and broader sectoral reforms and fiercely opposed the ADB's ideological enforcement of free-market capitalism and neo-liberalism.
Forum participants were then joined by 2000 more people for protests that lasted the three days of the annual general meeting. Wary of a repeat of the large protests against international financial institutions in Seattle and Washington, 2000 police formed barricades to protect the hotel where the meeting took place, the aptly named Westin.
Australian involvement
According to Charlie Pahlman, speaking at the Peoples' Forum, Australia plays a significant role in bilateral, multilateral and private sector programs and projects in the South-East Asian region.
Australian official bilateral aid to countries in the Mekong region, which includes Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, has been increasing steadily over the past decade, along with direct foreign investment by Australian companies.
Australia's involvement, through both aid and trade, includes eucalyptus plantations in north-east Thailand, the controversial Nam Theun 2 hydro-electric project in Laos, the Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River, and the promotion of Australian coal for environmentally and socially destructive power plants in southern Thailand.
Australia is also the fifth largest shareholder in the ADB, despite its poor environmental and social record, and the fourth largest contributor to the Asian Development Fund (ADF), the soft-loan arm of the ADB. Australia has so far contributed $1.4 billion to the ADF alone.
Pahlman argued at the forum that the Australian government has no adequate mechanism for independently overseeing, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of ADB operations in recipient countries. Only a handful of government staff are responsible for managing Australia's relationship with the multilateral development banks, depending almost entirely on the ADB for information.
Much of the ADB's rhetoric about "poverty alleviation" is targeted at donor governments.
Pahlman also pointed out that Australia's contributions to the ADB directly benefit Australian private companies and institutions. Australia gets more money back from the ADB in the form of procurements and consultancy contracts than it contributes.
For example, the largest single recipient of ADB consultancy contracts in Australia is the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation. With no political support for the construction of more large hydro-electric dams in Australia, SMEC is able to export its "expertise" to countries in the Asia-Pacific region through international institutions like the ADB.
Corporate subsidies
Pahlman told the forum that the ADB is little more than a crude mechanism for using public funds to subsidise the private sector in the donor countries, all in the name of "development". It is accountable neither to the people whose lives are impacted upon, nor to the taxpayers in the donor countries, who foot the bill.
The ADB is riddled with irreconcilable contradictions, Pahlman pointed out. While it seeks to impose far-reaching market reforms and the removal of state subsidies to the social and agricultural sectors in countries like Thailand, the ADB itself depends on public subsidies for its very existence.
While it preaches "good governance" to governments in the region, the ADB itself is unaccountable, undemocratic and secretive. Far from promoting sound economic development, the ADB itself distorts the market in favour of corporations and private sector interests.
Although Australia has been a member of the ADB since it was established in 1966, the institution is not well-known to the Australian public. Even social justice organisations and activists who have long been involved in campaigning on issues related to the World Bank and IMF do not know much about the ADB — even though Australia arguably has much more influence in the ADB than it does in the World Bank.
The Mekong region has been a central focal point for growing interest in Australia about the Asian Development Bank. As part of a campaign to generate more public interest and scrutiny in these issues, a coalition of non-government organisations, academics and community groups are organising a conference entitled "Accounting for Development — Australia and the Asian Development Bank in the Mekong Region", which will be held June 23-24 in Sydney.
The conference, features a range of highly qualified speakers from the region, will explore the links between Australia and the Asian Development Bank, focusing on the rights, livelihoods and environment in the Mekong region.
To register for the conference, or if you require more information, please contact: the Australian Mekong Resource Centre, phone (02) 9351 7796, fax (02) 9351 3644, or email <mekong@geography.usyd.edu.au>.