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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.

22 September 2023 President Asakawa, Spain Ambassador Utray discuss collaboration in the Philippines

President Masatsugu Asakawa met with the Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines, Miguel Utray Delgado, and members of the Spanish delegation on 22 September at ADB headquarters. They discussed the importance of the partnership between ADB and Spain in Asia and the Pacific, underscored by the initiative for an ADB IT data center in Spain. President Asakawa briefed the Ambassador on ADB's work in the Philippines, exploring opportunities for future collaboration such as private sector engagement and climate projects.

12 September 2023 President Asakawa joins G20 Leaders' Summit in India

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed President Masatsugu Asakawa to the G20 Leaders’ Summit from 9 to 10 September in New Delhi, where the President joined the heads of state and government with other guest organizations. Making interventions in two sessions, President Asakawa highlighted ADB’s contributions to the key agenda of the India G20 Presidency, including financing tomorrow’s cities, climate and health, energy transition, and gender and women’s empowerment. The President underscored ADB’s efforts to deliver on the “MDB Evolution” agenda, including through ADB’s Capital Adequacy Framework review, enhanced climate ambition, and new operating model. 

President Asakawa also met with India's Finance Minister and ADB Governor Nirmala Sitharaman on the sidelines of the summit, congratulating her on the results of India’s G20 Presidency. He assured Minister Sitharaman of ADB’s continued commitment to help advance the G20 Declaration’s agenda on climate action, inclusive growth, MDB reforms, and women-led development. He also discussed operational matters in India, including expanding nonsovereign operations and South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) initiatives to ensure ADB’s support for India’s green, climate-resilient, and inclusive growth under the new country partnership strategy. 

After the summit, President Asakawa traveled to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on 12 September and visited the Global Skills Park, an ADB-funded skills development project to facilitate skills training at global standards. 

06 September 2023 President Asakawa meets with People's Republic of China Vice Minister Guozhong Yang

People's Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Finance Vice Minister Guozhong Yang called on President Masatsugu Asakawa on 6 September at the ADB headquarters to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the PRC and ADB. President Asakawa expressed appreciation for the ongoing, robust cooperation between the PRC and ADB on anticorruption and integrity, and highlighted ADB’s aspiration to collaborate on environmental protection and climate change through projects aimed at climate mitigation initiatives and the Regional Flyway Initiative.

01 September 2023 ADB, ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) renew Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation

President Masatsugu Asakawa hosted the visit of ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) Director Kouqing Li on 1 September at ADB headquarters. The President appreciated the long-standing collaboration between ADB and AMRO in economic surveillance, research, and capacity building. The visit marked the signing of another 3-year extension of the ADB-AMRO Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation from 2024 to 2026.

The MOU, signed initially in 2017, solidifies the partnership between the two organizations and strengthens bilateral relations through several cooperation initiatives, including joint research and capacity-building programs to improve policy responses to potential macrofinancial risks and vulnerabilities across ASEAN+3. ADB and AMRO, with the extended MOU, will strengthen knowledge cooperation in climate change, digitalization, ageing population, financial stability, and supply chain resilience.

25 August 2023 President Asakawa joins meeting of ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors

President Masatsugu Asakawa attended the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Jakarta on 24-25 August. He participated in a session on Regional Economic Outlook and Development Challenges, in which he delivered remarks to ministers and governors on the People’s Republic of China’s economic outlook and its effect on ASEAN economies, as well as the need to narrow development gaps in ASEAN. The President also made interventions on the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund and transition finance during a policy dialogue session.

The President had sideline meetings with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, and ADB Governor Lawrence Wong, Indonesia Finance Minister and ADB Governor Sri Mulyani, Lao PDR Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Santiphab Phomvihane, and Philippines Secretary of Finance and ADB Governor Benjamin Diokno. 

At a visit to the Indonesia Resident Mission, the President shared with staff updates on ADB priorities including implementation of the new operating model (NOM). He highlighted the importance of resident missions in the context of the NOM, and thanked staff for their outstanding work in advancing operations, knowledge, and partnerships in Indonesia. 

At the ASEAN event, ADB staff actively contributed to a joint Finance and Health Ministers meeting, a seminar on renewable energy manufacturing where a report that ADB jointly produced with partners was launched, as well as a High-level Dialogue on Promoting Sustainable Infrastructure Development. 

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