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ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
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.
President Masatsugu Asakawa attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 15-16 November 2022 in Bali. He participated in the leaders’ discussions on food and energy security, where he highlighted ADB’s work on energy transition, including our collaboration with Indonesia on ETM. He also emphasized ADB’s commitment to supporting food security in its developing member countries DMCs through the $14 billion package announced at the ADB Annual Meeting in September. In the leaders’ session on digital transformation, President Asakawa noted the importance of closing the digital divide and summarized ADB’s work in this area. The President also delivered a keynote speech at the B20 Summit. President Asakawa on 14 November also met with the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Finance Vice-Minister Wang Dongwei in Bali, Indonesia at the sidelines of the G20 meeting. They discussed the ADB-PRC partnership, progress and challenges of ADB’s operations in the PRC, and the implementation of the ADB-PRC Country Partnership Strategy (2021-2025).
The grand launch of the Indonesia Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) Country Platform was held in Bali, Indonesia on 14 November 2022, co-organized by the Ministry of Finance, PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (PT SMI), and ADB. President Masatsugu Asakawa opened the event congratulating Indonesia’s government and Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Sri Mulyani Indrawati for the leadership and significant progress made since the ETM Southeast Asia Partnership launch last year at COP26, including the $500 million in-principle endorsement from the Climate Investment Fund Accelerating Coal Transition program and a landmark memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the first private sector ETM transaction in Indonesia. Minister Sri Mulyani thanked ADB for being the strongest supporter throughout the development of the ETM in Indonesia which led to a “contagious effect” for other partners to join and support. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, among many dignitaries joining the launch, called on MDBs to do more, and said that ETM as well as the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, or IF-CAP, are great examples of creative initiatives that help address pressing needs in pursuit of the Paris climate goals. The event included high-level panels, a press engagement featuring President Asakawa and Minister Sri Mulyani, and multiple MOU signings including between PT SMI and ADB for the Country Platform and for the groundbreaking private sector transaction led by ADB’s Private Sector Operations Depatment (PSOD). President Asakawa, VP Ahmed Saeed, Southeast Asia Deprtment Director General Ramesh Subramaniam, PSOD Deputy Director General Christopher Thieme and others in the ETM team participated in the launch event representing our One ADB push for ETM to accelerate the transition from fossil to clean energy. Read the news release. Visit the ETM page on ADB.org for more information.
At the Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT–GT) Leaders’ Summit in Phnom Penh on 10 November 2022, President Masatsugu Asakawa commended IMT-GT on the achievements of economic cooperation, the adoption of the ADB-supported IMT-GT Implementation Blueprint 2022-2026, and pandemic recovery efforts. He highlighted recommendations of recent ADB studies on IMT-GT special economic zones and economic corridors to help the subregion foster economic recovery and growth. He also touched on ADB initiatives to help IMT-GT in climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable energy systems, smart and livable cities, and tourism revival. The summit was chaired by Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and attended by Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Malaysia Speaker of the House of Representatives Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi. President Asakawa also met with President Widodo on the sidelines of the IMT-GT Summit. They discussed a range of issues including the uncertainties in the global economy and the impact on Indonesia’s sustainable growth, food security, and energy transition including the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM).
President Masatsugu Asakawa and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Chair and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, in a meeting on 7 November 2022, explored potential areas of cooperation between the two institutions. They discussed EITI’s interest in promoting beneficial ownership transparency, tackling corruption, and supporting domestic resource mobilization and renewable energy transition in Asian gas, oil, and mineral-producing countries.
President Masatsugu Asakawa on 3 November 2022 met with Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. They discussed regional growth prospects in the context of the current economic headwinds—in particular the steep increase in food and energy prices, and tighter monetary policy in developed economies—and underlying structural challenges, including climate change, aging populations, and infrastructure deficits. Mr. Morris applauded ADB’s swift response during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Masa highlighted ADB’s enhanced climate ambition, and also emphasized the importance of enhancing domestic resource mobilization in Asia and the Pacific. Mr. Morris met with the Board members and exchanged views on ADB’s COVID-19 response and possible future pathways. He also met ADB Managing Director General Woochong Um, ADB Strategy and Policy Department Director General Tomoyuki Kimura, and other staff.
The presidents of the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank signed a memorandum of understanding today setting out areas of cooperation in Asia and the Pacific over the next 5 years.
Four partners have collectively pledged $665 million toward a platform managed by the Asian Development Bank that aims to mobilize an additional $7 billion for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia...
The Asian Development Bank and other leading multilateral development banks issued today a high-level joint statement affirming their commitment to mainstreaming nature into their policies, analysis, assessments...
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $25 million project to help the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic procure and deploy COVID-19 vaccines and strengthen the country’s capacity to implement its vaccination program.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa today reaffirmed ADB’s support for a rapid economic recovery, infrastructure development, and regional cooperation at the 14th Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East...
The Asian Development Bank has approved a new energy policy to support universal access to reliable and affordable energy services, while promoting the low-carbon transition in Asia and the Pacific.
The world must act urgently to preserve ecosystems and biodiversity for the sake of a sustainable future and prosperity, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said at the opening of a global event on biodiversity here today.
The Asian Development Bank today launched the Regional Flyway Initiative, a program that aims to preserve wetlands across the region, which are critical for the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people as well as the annual...
The Asian Development Bank has announced it is elevating its ambition to deliver climate financing to its developing member countries to $100 billion from 2019–2030.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev today discussed ADB’s support for Kazakhstan’s ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response...
Opening remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2021, 15 June 2021
Opening speech by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the Meeting of Governors of Pacific Developing Member Countries with ADB Management at the 54th Annual Meeting, 5 May 2021
Address by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, to the Board of Governors Business Session, at the 54th Annual Meeting, 5 May 2021
Remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the 54th Annual Meeting, 4 May 2021
Presentation and closing remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the launch of the Asia Pacific Tax Hub at the 54th Annual Meeting, 3 May 202
President’s intervention by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM+3), 3 May 2021
Opening remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the Meeting Between Civil Society Organizations and ADB Management, 54th ADB Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, 3 May 2021
Opening remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the 2021 Asian Development Fund 13 Donors’ Consultation Meeting, 28 April 2021
Remarks by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the The SDG Dialogues - A Decade of Action: Enabling the SDGs, 7 April 2021
Speech by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the Climate and Development Ministerial Session on Increasing Access to Finance and Improving Response to Climate Impacts, 31 March 2021
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. In August 2021, he was reelected for a 5-year term starting on 24 November 2021.
Under Mr. Asakawa’s leadership, ADB made significant contributions to the region’s COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery planning with a $20 billion comprehensive response package and $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility. He also played a key role in rolling out a series of new and innovative financing initiatives—including an Energy Transition Mechanism — to spur the region’s low-carbon development and elevated ADB’s 2030 cumulative climate financing ambition to $100 billion as ADB continues to focus on the battle against climate change.
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.