The Asian Development Bank (ADB) andthe US banking giant Citi have agreed to jointly provide up to 1.5billion USD in financing to support trade in developing Asian countries.

Under the agreement, ADB and Citi will share the risk on trade financeadvanced to exporters and importers in frontier markets in Asia , ADBsaid in a statement issued on July 6.

The deal supports a trade finance facilitation programme launched bythe Manila-based ADB in 2004, and is aimed at providing up to 1.5billion USD in loans and guarantees up to 2013, according to thestatement.

The Risk Participation Agreement comes at a time when the globalfinancial crisis has slowed the supply of trade finance, in particularto emerging market countries, the ADB said.

Transactions under the plan can range from short-term letters of credit to maturities of up to three years.

Ensuring continued trade flows is key to helping developing countriesboost economic growth and alleviate poverty, the bank said, adding thatit is also forging partnerships with other financial institutions tosupport trade.

Earlier, ADB and the Inter-American Development Bank agreed to shareaccess to their trade programmes to spur trade between emerging Asiaand the Americas, two regions that "have done very little businessuntil now", the statement said.

According to ADB, its trade finance programme has been expanded in thepast few months to support more trade in Pakistan and Vietnam, whileexpanding rapidly in Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and SriLanka.

The programme is also scheduled to eventually cover all of central Asia./.