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ADB President: Masatsugu Asakawa
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Masatsugu Asakawa

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.

13 November 2023 President Asakawa visits Fiji; holds virtual consultation with ADB Governor for Tuvalu

President Masatsugu Asakawa visited Fiji from 11 to 13 November to mark 53 years of partnership with ADB. He met with Fiji Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics and ADB Governor Biman Prasad to discuss the Country Partnership Strategy 2024-2028. They discussed the role of new, more concessional lending for small island developing states to support their infrastructure needs, strengthen social services, and scale up investments in climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The President also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Viliame Gavoka; Women, Children, and Social Protection Minister Lynda Tabuya; and Public Works, Transport, and Meteorological Services Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau. 

President Asakawa led a roundtable meeting with Asian Development Fund (ADF) partners to discuss the Pacific development priorities and strengthening partnerships across the region. As Category 3 Cyclone Mal prevented a planned visit to Tuvalu, while in Suva he held virtual consultation with Tuvalu Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Seve Paeniu to reiterate ADB’s commitment to the country’s long-term climate adaptation plan. They also discussed the ADF replenishment and future ADB investment priorities.

09 November 2023 President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta visits ADB

President Masatsugu Asakawa on 9 November welcomed Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta (1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner) to ADB headquarters. During the bilateral meeting joined by Alternate Executive Director Noor Ahmed, VP Scott, ADB staff, and Timor-Leste senior officials, President Asakawa highlighted ADB’s long-standing partnership with Timor-Leste and pledged full support for the government’s socio-economic and infrastructure development priorities. He emphasized that supporting Timor-Leste on its accession to ASEAN will continue to be a core priority of ADB’s assistance to Timor-Leste.

06 November 2023 President Asakawa opens high-level regional tax conference at ADB headquarters

About 150 representatives from 44 economies attended the High-Level Regional Tax Conference 2023 held from 6 to 7 November at ADB headquarters. President Masatsugu Asakawa, in welcome remarks, expressed hope that the conference will lead to better approaches to raising more revenues domestically. Leading tax experts and country representatives shared their knowledge and reform experiences on the challenges governments face in domestic resource mobilization and identified the support needed for future tax system reforms. The conference brought together heads of tax administration agencies from ADB member countries, senior representatives of development partners, and ADB staff. 

03 November 2023 President Asakawa meets Japan Prime Minister Kishida; attends joint session of Philippine Congress

President Masatsugu Asakawa on 3 November in Manila met with Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his official 2-day visit to the Philippines. President Asakawa highlighted ADB’s work to promote growth and development in the Philippines, and expressed his appreciation for Japan’s steadfast support of these efforts. He noted the successful collaboration between ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency in cofinancing the North-South Commuter Railway, and emphasized the importance of continued collaboration in addressing the development challenges in Asia and the Pacific region. The President on 4 November attended a special joint session of the Philippine Congress where Prime Minister Kishida delivered remarks.

14 October 2023 President Asakawa attends WB-IMF Annual Meeting, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Morocco

President Masatsugu Asakawa attended the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (WB-IMF) Annual Meeting and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting from 11 to 14 October in Marrakech, Morocco. At the FMCBG meeting, he highlighted the recent ADB Board of Directors' Capital Adequacy Framework (CAF) decision to expand ADB’s lending capacity by $100 billion over the next decade. The President met other MDB Heads with whom he discussed the ongoing “MDB evolution”, how MDBs can strengthen their collaboration for greater impact, and joint preparations for COP28. He also summarized the recent Asia Development Outlook update and held bilateral meetings with ADB member delegations from Canada, Germany, Pakistan, US, Uzbekistan, and a range of other stakeholders. The President also signed the MDB Joint Statement of Support for the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code on 13 October.

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.

President in the News

Flickr Photostream

ADB, Fiji Discuss Support for Inclusive Growth and Enhanced Climate Resilience by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa and ADB delegation stand in front of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo with hosts from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa meets Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo. by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa speaking at the ODI’s Multilateral Development Bank Leaders Series on 21 June in London. by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa meets with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Andrew Mitchell, MP, State Minister for Development and Africa and ADB Governor. by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa meets with EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso at their new headquarters in London. by 186525160@N08
Celebrating 25 years of the ADB-Tajikistan development partnership by 186525160@N08
TJRM inauguration with Tajikistan Prime Minister Kohir Rasulzoda by 186525160@N08
Inaugurating a solar-powered pumped water supply system in Rudaki District by 186525160@N08
Inaugurating a solar-powered pumped water supply system in Rudaki District by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawameets with Tajikistan President; leads 25-year partnership celebration in Dushanbe by 186525160@N08
President Masatsugu Asakawa affirms ADB’s support to scale up Kazakhstan’s access to global climate finance by 186525160@N08