The Soviet Union is attending an Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual general meeting for the first time but has not decided whether to apply for membership a senior Soviet State Bank official said. No specific plans exist for applying for membership Yurij Ponomarev international managing director of the State Bank tolds. Its too early to draw up any plans. The USSR is attending the 20th meeting as an observer. The sole purpose is to observe and collect information first hand Ponomarev said. He said the Soviet Union was responding to a long-standing ADB invitation to attend the meetings. This is one of the fastest growing regions in the world the State Bank official said. It is in our interest to have good contacts. But those strengthened contacts will not be made at the expense of the Soviet Unions other relationships he said. Delegates here said the USSR move was connected to recent efforts to develop closer ties with Asia. The policy was announced last year by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech at Vladivostok. Moscows decision to attend the meetings follows its application last year for membership of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Delegates said the USSR faces lacklustre growth and is searching for ways to boost its economy. Although the ADB said political ideology is not a critiera for membership several delegates said politics would play a large role in any decision to allow Moscow to join. Moscows application would have to be approved by two-thirds of the board of governors representing three-quarters of the total voting power of member countries. The basic votes of the 47 members are all equal and total one-fifth of all votes. The remainder are proportional to the number of shares held by each member. Japan is the largest shareholder at 15.1 pct followed by the U.S. With 14.9 pct and China with 7.2 pct. The U.S. Has more than 12 pct of the total votes insufficient to block a Moscow membership bid. Japanese officials said Tokyo has not decided its position regarding the possibility of Soviet membership and said they noted the Soviets had not yet made any move to join.
USSR ATTENDS ADB MEET, UNCERTAIN ON MEMBERSHIP