Ashok Lavasa

VP Ashok Lavasa met with the State Bank of Viet Nam Governor and ADB Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, the Government Office Vice Chair Nguyen Xuan Thanh, the Vice Minister of Finance Vo Thanh Hung, and other senior government officials, business leaders, and development partners during a visit to Ha Noi on 7–10 March 2023. They discussed ADB's partnership in Viet Nam’s green, inclusive, and private sector-led growth, particularly through capital markets and sustainable infrastructure development. VP Lavasa joined the signing of the public-private partnerships memorandum of understanding with Viet Nam National University, the International Women’s Day celebration at ADB's Viet Nam Resident Mission, and visited an ADB project supporting sustainable mobility. 

VP Ashok Lavasa on 8 February 2023 shared online his insights on enabling a just energy transition in Asia and the Pacific at the Stanford Law School-led Environmental Law and Policy Colloquium. The VP identified a robust knowledge base, institutional capacity, meaningful partnerships with diverse stakeholders, innovative financing approaches, and private sector participation as key to the transition to low-carbon and resilient energy systems and economies. He said that while most conversations center on decarbonizing the energy supply, improving energy efficiency and promoting energy conservation are also important low-cost options.

VP Ashok Lavasa participated in a signing ceremony between ADB and Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal Private Limited on 20 January 2023 in New Delhi, making ADB’s first private sector financing of container terminal operations in India. The $131 million loan, including $69.6 million of cofinancing from LEAP, will be used to sustainably upgrade existing berths and yards and install additional energy-efficient equipment such as electric quay cranes in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal in Navi Mumbai Maharashtra. The project, aligned with the National Trade Facilitation Plan, National Monetization Pipeline, and Maritime India Vision 2030, will result in more efficient terminal operations and enhance international trade through efficient, transparent, and state-of-the-art logistics infrastructure at India's second largest port. ADB Infrastructure Finance Division 1 Director Shantanu Chakraborty signed the loan agreement during the ceremony. Read the news release. 

VP Ashok Lavasa on 20 January 2023 met with India’s Finance Minister and ADB Governor Nirmala Sitharaman and affirmed ADB’s continued support to the Government of India’s flagship programs, priority infrastructure projects, and transformative initiatives such as scaling up clean technologies. The VP reiterated that the upcoming country partnership strategy for India for 2023-2027 would be aligned to the government’s development priorities. He discussed ADB’s New Operating Model integrating sovereign and nonsovereign operations to augment private sector investments and climate finance, promote public-private partnerships, and provide knowledge support. He also discussed ADB's support to India’s G20 presidency. VP Lavasa also met with Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and a number of private sector clients.

VP Ashok Lavasa on 16 January 2023 in Maharashtra delivered the welcome speech at a high-level workshop on Financing Cities of Tomorrow as a part of the first Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under the India G20 presidency. ADB South Asia Urban Development and Water Division Director Norio moderated a session on the financial capacity needs to increase private sector financing. Office of Public-Private Partnership Head Cleo delivered the closing remarks. ADB presented the “Architecture for Capacity Building of Local Governments for Building Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities" concept to the IWG. ADB is leading this deliverable as a knowledge partner under the India G20 Presidency.