The start of May means birds, flowers and warmer weather in some parts of the world, but for ADB, it marks the biggest and busiest event in our calendar year – the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.

This year, for the 48^th edition on May 2-5, about 3,000 participants, including senior officials, business leaders, investors, financiers, journalists, and civil society representatives from around the world will gather in Azerbaijan’s beautiful capital, Baku.

The meeting starts on a somber note, just about a week after a devastating earthquake killed more than 5,000 people and injured another 11,000 in Nepal. ADB has already pledged a $3 million grant for immediate relief to be followed by up to $200 million in additional resources for early rehabilitation.

As an international effort to secure the survivors’ welfare slowly takes root, ADB President Takehiko Nakao too has taken a leadership role in helping out by organizing a donor meeting in Baku. Attendees will meet Nepal’s governor and finance minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, and hopefully this initiative will contribute to the ongoing international solidarity and support for Nepal.

Besides the concerns surrounding Nepal’s earthquake, the meeting also takes place when the global development discourse is delicately poised. In September this year, the new Sustainable Development Goals will be finalized. We can also expect to see a new global agreement on climate change in Paris by the end of the year.

Financing these global agreements as well as frequently occurring natural disasters will be a huge challenge for Asia. But ADB is well positioned. During this meeting our Board of Governors will endorse an initiative that combines the Asian Development Fund—which provides loans to poorer countries on concessional terms—with the balance sheet of the Ordinary Capital Resources, which provides market rate loans to middle income countries. The merger will dramatically increase our lending capacity by up to 50% over the current levels to $20 billion a year.

The overall theme for this year’s meeting is “Fostering Partnership for Development.” Through the business sessions on 4 and 5 May, governors and ADB management will discuss ongoing and emerging challenges facing the region, and also highlight how our ongoing reforms will make ADB a stronger development partner.

As usual, the meeting will stage several seminars, but the key one, of course, will be the Governors’ Seminar on 3 May. It will focus on the growth potential for the Asia and Pacific region and feature a world-class panel, including the ADB President.

Two other events to watch out for are the CNBC debate on 3 May—now in its second year at the annual meeting—and a civil society town hall with ADB management on the morning of 2 May. Following on from the success of last year’s events in Astana, Kazakhstan, we will once again be hosting a youth debate.

Last year our youth delegates enthusiastically embraced ADB’s social media channels—particularly Twitter—to join the conversation on the Annual Meeting. This year you can follow all the action and have your say on #ADBaku2015 and #CSOmatter, among others. 

Over 200 journalists from around the world will report on the meeting’s key developments and we look forward to welcoming them to the President’s opening and closing press conferences that bookend the Annual Meeting.

There are serious issues to consider over the next few days and I hope this meeting will be productive. But let me close by telling you a bit about our host city Baku. It’s the largest city on the Caspian Sea and the lowest-lying capital in the world, nestling 28 meters below sea level.

I visited Baku late last year and found a walk along the city’s boulevard to be a very invigorating experience. So if you can get away for a while at the end of the day try to do so. You’re well advised, though, to set a brisk pace. The boulevard stretches for miles and miles, but trust me, it offers panoramic views of a city that blends east with west, old with the new, and showcases a true zest for life!