Annual Meetings. The last annual AFE meeting in Manila took place 13 years ago on 29 April 1999. ADB has not held an annual meeting in Manila since then, except the reduced 1-day meeting on 30 June 2003, which was due to the cancellation of the meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Consequently, there was also no formal AFE meeting in 2003. Instead, AFE’s annual meeting business was conducted by e-mail.
AFE members from the Philippines and abroad had great expectations for our 2012 Annual General Meeting and cocktail reception—and were not disappointed. ADB’s annual meeting had the largest attendance ever—more than 4,000 participants—with 139 AFE members attending the event. The Philippine government must be congratulated for a very well-organized event at the Philippine International Convention Center, which included an attractive Accompanying Persons Program with tours in Metro Manila and surrounding areas. We are now looking forward to next year’s annual meeting in New Delhi, on 2–5 May 2013.
Elections. In early 2012, the AFE Secretariat was busy organizing the election for the position of executive secretary as the term was to end on 2 May. I was elected for another term of 4 years, until 2016. The Secretariat also sent a request to members to extend the term of the deputy executive secretary, whose term was ending on 30 June. Members overwhelmingly supported the request, which was put forward to avoid the undesirable possibility that two top AFE positions could in future be taken up simultaneously by new officers.
Construction. As a result of the start of construction of a third atrium building, which covers almost the entire outside parking area facing the second atrium, parking space in the ADB compound has been drastically reduced. Priority for parking in the remaining space has been given to ADB staff, and ADB retirees may now park only on the leased parking spaces between ADB and the Podium.
Bylaws. The work to review the AFE bylaws is progressing, albeit at a slow pace due to other pressing work such as preparations for the annual meeting in Manila and travel by AFE members involved in the review process. But it is envisioned that the revised bylaws would be approved by AFE’s membership toward the end of 2012 or early 2013.
Islamic Development Bank. I met for the first time with representatives of the Islamic Development Bank from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We exchanged views on how our respective parent organization treats their retirees, and health insurance matters figured prominently in the discussion.