Our Internship at Asian Development Bank started from 11 December, 2017 and through to 14 January, 2018. We were a group of three students from the class of MPP at LKY School of Public Policy who were recruited into different departments to conduct research in various areas. I was selected to work in the finance sector under the Sustainable Development and Climate Change department. First day at work started with a brief and very friendly meeting with Dr. Gambhir Bhatta who explained to us the expectations from the internship also gave us a brief introduction to the organization. Once through with the meeting we got cracking with our respective research assignment with immediate effect.
Work assigned to me was to conduct research on the state of financial inclusion in six pacific island countries with specific focus on digital finance. I was expected to conduct extensive survey of the baking industry in each of these countries in terms of banking products which were being offered and what were the challenges inhibiting financial inclusion. A major part of the work also involved identifying challenges to expansion of digital banking products in these countries. The nature of research was extremely interesting and thought provoking. My research introduced me to some of the complex problems being faced by these countries and the amount of effort which was being expended to solve for those problems. However, for me the best part about the research was that it was not a mere academic work but was related to real projects which Asian Development Bank was looking to take up. Final product of my work in the form of a report was intended to be an action document which would be used to design interventions in the area of financial inclusion in these countries. This gave a much needed context to my work and acted as an additional source of motivation.
The nature of work assigned to me was very extensive and required both primary and secondary research. What added to the difficulty of the task was that we had only five weeks to finish all the research and prepare a report. However, I was given tremendous guidance and support by my supervisor which made the task easier. My supervisors were always willing to take out time to discuss the progress of the report and continuously gave their inputs thereon. I also received support in reaching out to people outside the organization for the purposes of my research which made the task easier and allowed me to produce a much better report.
The internship experience also gave me a peek into the working of a multilateral organization like ADB It was instructive to see the work culture and the dedication of the staff working there. Mission oriented approach to work which focussed on poverty alleviation in its member countries was generously inspiring and further emboldened my desire to work towards a full-time work opportunity with the organization. I have no hesitation in saying that this internship experience was extremely useful and fulfilling in every way. It gave me an opportunity to work in an area of my interest (finance) with an organization like ADB which could prove to be a huge boost to my career prospects.
Ultimately, none of this could have been possible without the generous support of the LKY School- both financially and logistically. The career services team was proactive in managing the entire internship and I cannot thank them enough for the support. Lastly, the financial support extended for the purposes of this internship also allowed me to focus exclusively on my work without having to bother about managing my finances.
