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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
Sixty-one year old Masatsugu Asakawa has been elected unanimously elected President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by its Board of Governors.
In a statement released by the Manila-based ADB before midday today, Mr. Asakawa, currently Special Advisor to Japan’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, will assume office as ADB’s 10th President on January 17,2010. He will succeed Mr. Takehiko Nakao, who will leave office on January 16,2010. Mr. Asakawa will complete the unexpired term of President Nakao which ends on November 23,2021.
“Mr. Asakawa’s extensive and diverse experience of international finance and development will serve ADB well in pursuing its vision of a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea and Chair of the ADB Board of Governors Hong Nam-Ki.
He added the ADB Board of Governors looks forward to working with the newly-elected president.
Mr. Asakawa’s career spans nearly four decades, having held senior positions at Japan’s Ministry of Finance, including Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, and gained diverse professional experience in development policy, foreign exchange markets and international tax policy.
He also served as Finance Deputy for the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Fukuoka, Japan. During the Global Financial Crisis, he took part in the first G20 Leaders’ Summit Meeting in his capacity as Executive Assistant to then Prime Minister Taro Aso.
He had frequent engagements with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including as Chair of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs from 2011 to 2016. He was a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo from 2012 to 2015 and at Saitama University from 2006 to 2009.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arms from the University of Tokyo from 2012 to 2015 and MPA from Princeton University in 1985.
The Asian Development Bank was established in 1966 and owned by 68 members, 49 of which are from the Asia Pacific.
（ASIA PACIFIC DAILY）
