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President and Chairperson, Board of Directors

Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda became ADB's eighth President on 1 February 2005. On 3 October 2006, he was unanimously re-elected as President. Mr. Kuroda's new term of five years starts on 24 November 2006.

Before joining ADB, Mr. Kuroda was Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a professor at the graduate school of economics at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo.

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Mr. Kuroda has represented Japan's Ministry of Finance at a number of international monetary conferences as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs.

During his terms as Director-General of the International Bureau and as Vice Minister of Finance between 1997 and 2003, Mr. Kuroda helped design and implement the US$30 billion Miyazawa Initiative - Japan's response to Asian economies hit by the 1997-1998 financial crisis.

Under his leadership, Japan helped Asian nations establish a network of currency swap agreements, the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative, to avert another crisis.

Born in 1944, Mr. Kuroda holds a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Oxford. He joined the Ministry of Finance in 1967. Eight years later, he was seconded to the International Monetary Fund. After returning to the Ministry, Mr. Kuroda assumed a number of senior posts in the Ministry's international finance and taxation bureaus. While Deputy Director-General of the International Finance Bureau, he was responsible for Japan's official development assistance as well as relations with multilateral development financial institutions including ADB.

Mr. Kuroda served as President of the Ministry's research arm, the Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, for one year before returning to the International Bureau as Director-General. Two years later, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, responsible for policy planning, international coordination, and external representation.

After retiring from the Ministry in 2003, Mr. Kuroda was appointed Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Koizumi to advise the premier on international monetary issues.

He has authored several books on monetary policy, exchange rate, international finance policy coordination, international taxation, and international negotiations.

Mr. Kuroda and his wife Kumiko have two sons.