Brunei has joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its 65th member where a ceremony marking its membership was held yesterday in Manila, the Philippines, where the bank is headquartered.

ADB is a multilateral development financial institution that was established in 1966 with 31 original members, the bank said a statement carried by Bernama today.

Its over-arching objective is to eradicate poverty in the region and improve the quality of life in Asia and the Pacific.

ADB's key instruments to achieve its objectives are policy dialogue, loans, technical assistance, grants guarantees and equity investment.

The bank's annual lending volume is about US$6 billion, with technical assistance usually totalling about US$180 million each year.

Brunei's Minister of Finance II, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, presented the instrument of acceptance to ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda and later received the certificate of Brunei's membership from him.