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ADB Spotlights Rule of Law for Private Sector Growth
At the Asia Pacific Business Forum on the Rule of Law in Tokyo on 25–26 January 2026, ADB General Counsel Thomas Clark highlighted that private sector-led growth depends on the existence of a clear, predictable, and enforceable rule-of-law environment.
The ADB Office of the General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform (LPR) Program team met with Papua New Guinea’s Deputy Chief Justice and senior court members on 6 January 2025, at the ADB Headquarters to strengthen judicial capacity for greater legal predictability and stability.
From 23 October to 7 November, ADB delivered a series of four workshops in Nadi, Fiji, focused on selected issues concerning gender-based violence (GBV) offenses.
On 1 December 2025, Fiji’s Parliament enacted the new Forestry Act 2025, a transformative reform that replaces the 1992 Forest Decree and shifts the focus of Fijian forestry legislation from timber extraction to sustainable forest management. The act introduces an innovative operating model that modernizes the management of forest resources and supports economic growth. At the same time, its more efficient enforcement mechanisms will safeguard forest ecosystems and the rights of communities living in them.
On 28 October 2025 in Seoul, South Korea, the ADR Special Session of the 11th annual Seoul ADR Festival gathered policymakers, legal professionals, and academics to explore ways of harmonizing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms and practices across Asia and the Pacific.