Masatsugu Asakawa

17 May 2021 President Asakawa meets new OECD Secretary-General

President Masatsugu Asakawa and newly elected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Cormann in their first meeting on 17 May 2021 reaffirmed the strong and long-standing partnership between the two institutions, particularly reflecting on the successful collaboration supporting anticorruption, taxation, and tackling climate change. They agreed there was scope to further deepen the partnership given the needs of developing member countries and OECD’s growing engagement across the Asia and the Pacific region.

13 May 2021 President Asakawa meets with ADB Governor for Ireland

President Masatsugu Asakawa and Ireland's Minister for Finance and ADB Governor Paschal Donohoe on 13 May 2021 discussed the impact of 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, resilient, and inclusive recovery. Governor Donohoe thanked ADB for the excellent cooperation under the Ireland Trust Fund for Building Climate Change and Disaster Resilience in Small Island Developing States which is an important pillar in Ireland's engagement with ADB. He also thanked President Asakawa for his strong leadership and acknowledged the work of all ADB staff in challenging times.

12 May 2021 President Asakawa meets with heads of regional development banks

President Masatsugu Asakawa, on 12 May 2021 met with heads of regional development banks - African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso, and Inter-American Development Bank President Mauricio Claver-Carone. They discussed key strategic priorities, including response to the COVID-19 pandemic, support for clients' long-term development needs, and achieving a lasting and equitable recovery. President Asakawa conveyed ADB's commitment and targets to support climate actions, equitable access to social and health services, high-quality green and digital infrastructure, regional cooperation and integration, and domestic resource mobilization. The heads also exchanged views on G20 coordination and efforts to support member countries' transition to a net-zero carbon economy and alignment with the Paris Agreement.

11 May 2021 President Asakawa, ADB Alternate Governor for UK discuss the climate agenda ahead of COP26

President Masatsugu Asakawa and a UK delegation led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister for Asia and ADB Alternate Governor Nigel Adams met virtually on 11 May 2021. The President conveyed ADB’s strong commitment to the climate agenda and shared the breadth of ADB’s climate actions. Both parties agreed that COP26 in November 2021 will be a pivotal milestone for climate change and to get the global commitment on track to make the goals of the Paris Agreement a reality. Minister Adams expressed his appreciation for the significant efforts ADB has made in responding to COVID-19 and the importance of a green, resilient, and inclusive economic recovery. President Asakawa and Minister Adams emphasized that the economic recovery will depend critically on an effective roll-out of vaccines.

11 May 2021 President Asakawa meets with Citigroup officials

President Masatsugu Asakawa on 11 May 2021 met with the Citigroup Vice Chairman of Banking, Capital Markets, and Advisory Jay Collins to discuss a wide range of issues including the economic and vaccine outlook, ADB's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and ADB-Citi collaboration. The President thanked Citi for being a reliable and consistent long-standing partner of ADB in the capital markets. He noted increasing opportunities for collaboration, particularly in climate change and environmental infrastructure and supply chain financing, in supporting Asia's green, resilient, and inclusive recovery.

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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.