Book excerpt: Private sector investment is widely recognized as the engine of economic growth. The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) long-term strategic framework 2008-2020 (Strategy 2020) identifies private sector development and private sector operations as one of five drivers of change to pursue its vision and agenda. ADB's private sector operations aim to promote broad-based and inclusive growth in Asia and the Pacific region by catalyzing and encouraging private investment. In particular, through support for innovative and replicable projects in the private sector ADB maximizes the development impact of such assistance. This report is the first of an annual series reviewing how private sector operations have fared in promoting ADB's overall development effectiveness agenda. The report offers an opportunity to reflect on the value addition of ADB's private sector operations, to highlight performance trends and to identify actions required to improve results.