YEREVAN, September 28 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) - Armenia has become the 64th member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development finance institution, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Armenia has subscribed to 10,557 shares of the capital stock. ADB's authorized capital stock consists of 3,509,728 shares worth $51.6 billion.

The Asian Development Bank, established in 1996 and headquartered in the Philippine capital of Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance.

In 2004, the bank approved loans and technical assistance totaling $5.3 billion and $196.6 million, respectively.