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.
The Business Session of the 56th ADB Annual Meeting concluded on 4 May. President Asakawa in his speech stressed that ADB is actively evolving its mission to better support developing member countries (DMCs), focusing on investing in regional and global public goods to help mitigate increasing global threats. He also thanked the Republic of Korea for hosting the meeting in Incheon. ADB Governors approved the agenda items of the Business Session and expressed support for ADB’s ambitions, including reaching climate financing targets, as the bank prepares for the midterm review of its Strategy 2030. They stressed the need to explore ways to optimize ADB’s balance sheet and expand lending capacity to meet the continued strong demand for financing and knowledge from DMCs. Read the news release. Watch the recording.
President Asakawa and the Republic of Korea Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, also Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Kyungho Choo on 3 May in Incheon signed an agreement for the government’s additional contribution of $100 million to the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) for 2023 to 2028. The signing further strengthens the cooperation between the two institutions to promote the use of advanced digital technologies and provide knowledge solutions to ADB developing member countries. Since EAKPF's establishment in 2006, the Republic of Korea has contributed a total of $168 million to the fund. Read the news release.
President Asakawa, along with the ADB Governors from Germany, India, Indonesia, and the Republic of Korea, discussed key policies and reforms to ensure a sustainable recovery at the Governors’ Seminar on 3 May. Panelists highlighted the role of multilateral cooperation in facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy and leaning against global fracturing. They emphasized the importance of enacting climate-smart policies, forging stronger cooperation through regional trade agreements, and adjusting macroeconomic policies to address rising inflationary pressures and risks in the global economic environment.
In his opening address delivered on 3 May at the 56th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors in Incheon, President Asakawa underscored the need for ADB and other multilateral development banks to evolve to confront the enormous challenges they are facing. He said that development is no longer possible without effective climate action, and that MDBs must lead in investing in global public goods and mobilize levels of financing required from billions to trillions. President Asakawa thanked the Republic of Korea for hosting this year’s Annual Meeting and for the excellent arrangements. The opening session included remarks by the Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol as guest of honor, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, also Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Kyungho Choo. A cultural presentation concluded the event. Watch the recording.
President Asakawa on 2 May highlighted that regional cooperation remains crucial amid uncertainties and climate change risks in his presentation at the 26th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ (AFMGM+3) Meeting in Incheon. He underscored the need for greater climate finance, which requires strong efforts to mobilize both public and private capital efficiently, urgently, and at a scale to match the severity of climate risks. He reaffirmed ADB’s commitment to generate investments, and create an enabling environment for climate finance in the region. Representatives from the IMF and AMRO joined the Economic Review and Policy Dialogue session of the meeting.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez announced at COP26 the launch of a new partnership to establish an Energy Transition Mechanism.
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 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 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.
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
Speech by Masatsugu Asakawa, ADB President, at the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting (AFMM)’s Special Session with ASEAN Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors, and Heads of International Financial Organizations, 30 March 2021
Speech by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium, 17 March 2021
Speech by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank on International Women’s Day, 8 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.