Listen to the article
Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs handles the development policy and development cooperation.
Finland’s main goal is to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities. Finland’s development cooperation focuses on four priorities: (i) strengthening the status and rights of women and girls, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health and rights; (ii) strengthening the economic base of developing countries and creating jobs, with an emphasis on innovations and the role of women in the economy and female entrepreneurship; (iii) education, well-functioning societies and democracy, with an emphasis on high-quality education, improved tax systems, and support for democracy and the rule of law; and (iv) climate change and natural resources, with an emphasis on strengthening adaptation alongside mitigation of climate change, food security and water, meteorology and disaster risk prevention, forests and safeguarding biodiversity.
Finland is a founding member of ADB and has committed $231.2 million to ADB special funds since 1966. Of this commitment, $207.6 million is for the Asian Development Fund (ADF). The ADF provides grants to ADB’s low-income, developing member countries to help reduce poverty and improve quality of life.
3 May 2024
Donors and ADB have agreed to a replenishment of $5 billion for ADB’s Asian Development Fund 14 and Technical Assistance Special Fund 8. The commitment was made during ADB’s 57th Annual Meeting.
Eco-friendly e-buses and the first national e-vehicle charging network are helping Viet Nam reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fight climate change, and move people.
The case study highlights Finland’s technical expertise and leadership in sustainable forest management as ADB tries to build resilience of forest ecosystems in Mongolia by boosting capacity for forest management.
Climate-adaptive rice varieties are empowering farmers in South and Southeast Asia. The new breeds of rice are tolerant of water stress and will mean bigger harvests and higher incomes for farmers.
The Government of Nepal is working closely with ADB and its financing partners to improve access to and quality of secondary education, beginning with competitive curricula, scholarships for poor students, and pilot-testing model secondary schools.
ADB, along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Government of Finland, has been helping reduce poverty in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Basin. Through the organization of livelihood improvement groups and the rehabilitation of road and agricultural facilities, they have increased farmers’ access to quality farm inputs.
ADB and Finland collaborated on several knowledge products and/or events including the following:
This brief draws on lessons from Finland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan to explore how governments can strengthen training and continuous professional development for teachers to boost their skills and improve student learning outcomes.
This interactive conversation created an information bridge between leading members in the education sector in Finland and ADB project teams.
This publication presents case studies on the successful application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Finland.
Active trust funds are those a) with ongoing projects; or b) with no active projects but have remaining funds.
Finland contributes to ADB’s development initiatives through two key avenues: Cofinancing and Special Funds.
Nonsovereign Cofinancing. The Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program (TSCFP) supported 6 transactions valued at $11.1 million with banks domiciled in Finland from 2009 to 2024. During the same period, the TSCFP supported over 190 Finnish exports and/or imports valued at $243.5 million. In 2024 alone, the TSCFP supported 5 Finnish exports and/or imports valued at $1.4 million. Exports and/or imports were mainly to/from Bangladesh, Viet Nam, and Pakistan. Underlying goods involved mostly food and agriculture-related goods, technology and communications, as well as raw and non-energy commodities.
