Masatsugu Asakawa
President Asakawa concludes visit to Indonesia
President Masatsugu Asakawa on 4 March 2020 visited a polytechnic in Depok, a city on the outskirts of Jakarta, that received a loan from ADB and a grant from Canada, and exchanged views with lecturers, students, and representatives from industries on how the school’s quality has improved and impacted the students’ capacity and employment, while addressing the gender gap. The President also met with Maritime and Investment Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Panjaitan and Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo to discuss ADB’s ongoing support to Indonesia and potential collaboration in the future. Download photos from Flickr
President Asakawa meets with President Widodo to reaffirm support for Indonesia’s development priorities
President Masatsugu Asakawa met with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo on 3 March 2020 to discuss an expansion of ADB support for the country’s development priorities in areas such as human capital development, infrastructure connectivity, and climate change, through sovereign lending, knowledge support, private sector operations, and transaction advisory services. Read news release and Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram posts. See video and download photo from Flickr
President Asakawa meets local communities in Indonesia
President Masatsugu Asakawa visited ADB-supported slum upgrading and green infrastructure pilot projects in Makassar city, South Sulawesi, Indonesia on 2 March 2020. He interacted with project beneficiaries to learn how the projects have impacted their lives. President Asakawa also met with the Governor of South Sulawesi Nurdin Abdullah, Makassar Mayor Iqbal Suhaeb and other government and representatives from the business community to discuss ongoing and future collaboration in South Sulawesi. See Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts. Download photos from Flickr
President Asakawa meets Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines
President Masatsugu Asakawa met with Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Sinyo Harry Sarundajang on 26 February 2020 at the ADB headquarters. President Asakawa and Mr. Sarundajang discussed the development challenges in the country, Indonesian President Widodo's key priorities, and opportunities for expanding ADB engagement in the context of the proposed country partnership strategy 2020-2024. They also talked about the importance of regional cooperation and integration for Indonesia and within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area. Download photo from Flickr
ADB President meets Philippine President Duterte, vows support
President Masatsugu Asakawa met on 24 February 2020 with Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and pledged full support for the country’s proactive development agenda. This was the first courtesy visit by Mr. Asakawa to the Philippine President. He thanked Mr. Duterte for the Philippine government’s first-ever contribution to the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s lower-income developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific to reduce poverty and improve people’s quality of life. Read news release, see Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter posts, and download photo from Flickr
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Masatsugu Asakawa is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was elected President by ADB’s Board of Governors and assumed office on 17 January 2020.
Prior to joining ADB, he served as Special Advisor to Japan’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and has a close-to-four decades’ career at the Ministry of Finance with diverse professional experience that cuts across both domestic and international fronts.
In the immediate aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, Mr. Asakawa, in his capacity as Executive Assistant to Prime Minister Taro Aso, took part in the first G20 Leaders’ Summit Meeting in November 2008. He was instrumental in orchestrating a globally coordinated financial package to abate the financial crisis, including a $100 billion loan from Japan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Then in 2016, in his capacity as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, he took on a leading role for the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Sendai under the Japanese presidency, where a sustainable and inclusive development agenda was extensively discussed.
Most recently, he served as Finance Deputy for the G20 meetings under the Japanese presidency, playing a pivotal role for the success of the G20 Osaka Summit as well as the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in Fukuoka. Some of his outstanding achievements in Osaka include the endorsement by the G20 Leaders of the “G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment” and the “G20 Shared Understanding on the Importance of UHC Financing in Developing Countries”. Before these, he had occupied various prominent positions within the Finance Ministry, including director positions in charge of development policy issues, foreign exchange markets, and international tax policy.
Mr. Asakawa’s professional experience extends beyond the realms of the Japanese government. Most notably, he served as Chief Advisor to ADB President Kimimasa Tarumizu between 1989 and 1992, during which time he spearheaded the creation of a new office focused on strategic planning. Also, he had frequent engagement with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in such positions as Chair for Committee on Fiscal Affairs (2011–2016). Furthermore, he was a senior staff at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF (1996–2000). In the meantime, he gave lectures as Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Economic Science, Saitama University (2006–2009), and at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo (2012–2015).
Mr. Asakawa obtained his BA from University of Tokyo (Economics Faculty) in 1981, and MPA from Princeton University, USA, in 1985.