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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.

01 August 2023 President Asakawa meets with Japan Prime Minister Kishida, Finance Minister Suzuki, Bank of Japan Governor Ueda

President Masatsugu Asakawa held a series of high-level meetings in Tokyo with Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on 26 July, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services and ADB Governor Shunichi Suzuki on 28 July, and Governor of the Bank of Japan and ADB Alternate Governor Kazuo Ueda on 2 August. Discussions covered various topics, including insights into the region's economic outlook; the situation in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; and the potential for reform in multilateral development banks. President Asakawa highlighted ADB’s several new initiatives, including promoting climate financing with the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific; expanding lending capacity and strengthening the capital adequacy framework; and meeting the complex needs of developing member countries through the new operating model implementation. He also emphasized the importance of the Asian Development Fund. President Asakawa expressed his gratitude for Japan's support to ADB, while his counterparts commended his leadership and acknowledged the collective efforts of all ADB staff in addressing the region's development challenges. On 1 August, President Asakawa also participated in a TV interview to share his insights on the regional economic outlook and explain ADB’s priorities.

18 July 2023 President Asakawa joins G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in India

President Masatsugu Asakawa  participated in the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting from 16-18 July in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and made interventions at the ministerial sessions on global economy and global health, sustainable finance and infrastructure, and international taxation. President Asakawa emphasized multilateral development banks’ (MDBs) role in supporting global efforts to address climate change and facilitate economic growth through re-envisioning partnerships and scaling up financial support. The President met with other MDB heads and the G20 Expert Panel on MDB evolution and discussed ADB’s progress along its own evolution pathway and the innovations being implemented.

At the side event on the theme, Financing Cities of Tomorrow, President Asakawa outlined major challenges faced by cities in Asia and the Pacific, highlighting ADB’s integrated solutions to urban infrastructure development while supporting an enabling environment, capacity development, and financial sustainability. President Asakawa also met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to discuss ADB’s assistance to the state government’s initiatives on skill development, planned urban expansion, development of GIFT city as a global fintech and data hub, and of Gujarat as a hub for green hydrogen. 

11 July 2023 President Asakawa visits the People's Republic of China, meets Premier Li Qiang

President Masatsugu Asakawa and People’s Republic of China (PRC) Premier Li Qiang discussed opportunities to strengthen collaboration on climate change and development priorities during a meeting on 11 July in Beijing. During his first visit to the PRC, President Asakawa held discussions with Finance Minister and ADB Governor Liu Kun, Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council President Lu Hao, National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chair Cong Liang, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun, and Export-Import Bank of China Chair Wu Fulin. President Asakawa and Mr. Lu witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding for ADB and DRC’s Center for International Knowledge on Development to conduct a joint flagship study on “high-quality development” in the country. In the meeting with FM Liu, they discussed ways to further deepen the partnership, particularly through key initiatives such as the Regional Flyway Initiative and climate mitigation initiatives. Read the news release.

01 July 2023 ADB, Philippines sign loan for landmark Davao public transport project

President Masatsugu Asakawa and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 1 July witnessed the signing of the $1 billion loan for the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project in Davao City. The project, which is ADB’s largest road-based public transport project in the country, will transform Davao city’s public transport with the use of electric and fuel-efficient buses, supporting government efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and promote climate action. This is also a big-scale climate financing project. Philippine Finance Department Secretary and Vice Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, and ADB Governor Benjamin Diokno signed the loan documents. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte joined the ceremony. Read President Asakawa's speech.

28 June 2023 ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo visits ADB

During his first official visit to Philippines, International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo on 28 June paid a courtesy visit to President Masatsugu Asakawa and explained two ILO initiatives: the Global Coalition for Social Justice and the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions. Mr. Houngbo highlighted the importance of identifying pathfinder countries for the initiative which channels investments into job creation and social protection. They also shared ideas for strengthening collaborations for job creation between two institutions.

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