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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 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting on 17-18 February 2022 in Jakarta. President Asakawa discussed sustainable finance, emphasizing ADB’s work with Indonesia and the Philippines on the Energy Transition Mechanism. He spoke on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recovery in Asia and the Pacific, and international taxation. The President underscored support for the G20 initiative in enhancing collaboration between finance and health decision-makers, and expressed ADB’s readiness to deploy more financing and technical assistance to support and strengthen the health sector in Asia and the Pacific. President Asakawa met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on 18 February 2022. They discussed ADB’s active support to Indonesia’s G20 presidency focusing on domestic resource mobilization and sustainable finance, including innovative energy transition. President Asakawa reiterated ADB’s continued assistance for Indonesia to recover stronger from the pandemic and achieve sustainable growth. On the sidelines of the G20 meeting, President Asakawa also met with Indonesia's Finance Minister and ADB Governor Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo, Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and COP26 President Alok Sharma. The President commended Indonesia’s leadership in G20.
President Masatsugu Asakawa on 8 February 2022 met with the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Jochen Flasbarth, and Parliamentary State Secretary, Niels Annen. They discussed the longevity and importance of the partnership between ADB and Germany. President Asakawa also thanked Germany for its strong support for Asian Development Fund 13 and the Asia-Pacific Climate Finance Fund. They concurred that addressing climate change and developing innovative solutions to the complex challenges our clients face is clearly a common priority for ADB and Germany, further providing fertile ground for deepening collaboration. They also discussed Germany's hosting of the G7 this year and the great importance it stresses on climate change.
President Masatsugu Asakawa and Ireland’s first resident Ambassador to the Philippines, William Carlos, in a courtesy call on 3 February 2022 reflected on the success of the partnership between ADB and Ireland. They reiterated their intent to strengthen collaboration building on Ireland’s support for the Asian Development Fund and the trust fund contributions addressing climate change and disaster resilience in Small Island Developing States. The ambassador praised ADB for its ability to be innovative and flexible in response to the challenges over the last two years. The meeting showed a clear alignment of priorities between the Government of Ireland and ADB in relation to domestic resource mobilization and tax reform as a key pillar of economic recovery post COVID-19. Having an Irish ambassador based in Manila was welcomed by President Asakawa and both felt it would herald a new chapter in the partnership.
President Masatsugu Asakawa, in a virtual meeting on 2 February 2022 with Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade and ADB Governor Sardor Umurzakov, confirmed ADB’s continued support for private sector-led development as the country pursues a new development strategy. This year, ADB plans to continue expanding coverage of its private sector operations and support for renewable energy. Mr. Umurzakov expressed his appreciation for ADB’s assistance in Uzbekistan’s economic reforms and infrastructure development, and requested further support in human capital development and private sector-led road rehabilitation and maintenance. He said Uzbekistan's new national development strategy prioritizes improving people's livelihoods, society and reforming the state. Read the news release.
President Masatsugu Asakawa and Japan's Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, on 12 January 2022 and Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services and ADB Governor, Shunichi Suzuki, on 11 January discussed Strategy 2030 implementation and ADB's response to COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific. They agreed that the future focus will need to be on ensuring a green, inclusive, resilient, recovery. This will involve consolidating all efforts to deepen knowledge, innovation and partnership to build ADB as climate bank for the region. President Asakawa appreciated Japan’s strong support to the Energy Transition Mechanism and other ADB initiatives supporting the green, inclusive, and resilient recovery. Prime Minister Kishida and Governor Suzuki thanked ADB for the excellent collaboration in eradicating poverty under Strategy 2030. They also thanked President Asakawa for his strong leadership and acknowledged the work of all ADB staff in challenging times.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $20 million loan to help the Government of Cook Islands manage the social and economic impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (25 November 2020) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary General José Ángel Gurría today discussed their respective institution’s support for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response, and agreed to further strengthen ongoing collaboration on key areas to ensure robust and sustainable recovery from the pandemic such as economic analysis, domestic resource mobilization (DRM), international tax cooperation (ITC), and anticorruption.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (20 November 2020) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and UK Minister for Asia at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and ADB Alternate Governor Nigel Adams met today to discuss cooperation on shared priorities for Asia and the Pacific, including the need for a low carbon and climate resilient recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
ADB has approved a $14 million grant to help the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Luxembourg Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Pierre Gramegna in a call today discussed the ADB–Luxembourg partnership in Asia and the Pacific and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a new policy framework to guide its collaboration with multilateral development banks (MDBs) on sovereign exposure exchanges to manage risks created by the concentration of loans in a small...
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa today urged Southeast Asian countries to expand investments in digital infrastructure and ensure equitable access to technology as economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
ADB has endorsed its 2020–2024 country partnership strategy for Indonesia, which aims to apply the full range of financing support and solutions through ADB’s sovereign and private sector operations along with its...
ADB is committed to partnering with developing economies in Asia and the Pacific to achieve their recovery goals from the COVID-19 pandemic, President Masatsugu Asakawa said in an address to ADB’s Board of Governors today.
ADB is establishing a regional hub to promote knowledge sharing and strengthen cooperation on tax policy and tax administration across economies in Asia and the Pacific and their development partners.
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.