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Masatsugu Atsakawa
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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.

12 July 2022 President Asakawa delivers keynote address at Sydney Energy Forum

The forum on 12-13 July 2022 brought together business leaders, technology and finance experts, and high-level government officials to share insights into securing clean energy transition for the Indo-Pacific region. President Masatsugu Asakawa, in his keynote address, highlighted that through collective, urgent action, and at the scale needed, we can solve the climate and energy crises. He held meetings with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Germany's State Secretary Jörg Kukies, and Fortescue Future Industries Chair Andrew Forrest. President Asakawa also met with International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol and discussed the work ADB and IEA are doing together to accelerate the energy transition across Asia and the Pacific. ADB Executive Director Tony McDonald joined the mission to facilitate the forum participation and various meetings.

18 May 2022 President Asakawa meets with government officials in Berlin, Rome, Paris

During his mission to Europe from 11 to 18 May 2022, President Masatsugu Asakawa discussed major challenges facing developing Asia and the Pacific, including the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, as well as food and energy security. ADB’s response to the climate crisis was also spotlighted, including pioneering innovations in climate finance and energy transition. In Berlin, President Asakawa met the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) Parliamentary State Secretary and ADB Governor Niels Annen; Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt; and State Secretary Louise Hoelscher, Ministry of Finance. In Rome, he met Bank of Italy Governor and ADB Governor, Ignazio Visco; Economy and Finance Minister Daniele Franco; Director General of the Treasury Alessandro Rivera, Ministry of Economy and Finance; and Chief Executive of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (CDP) Dario Scannapieco. In Paris, President Masa met with Director General of the Treasury, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and ADB Alternate Governor Emmanuel Moulin, as well as Agence Française de Développement (AFD) CEO Remy Rioux. President Asakawa also delivered a keynote address on Mobilizing Domestic Resources for a Sustainable Asia-Pacific Region - Challenges and Opportunities at the Emerging Markets Forum on 18 May in Paris.

5 May 2022 ADB Board of Governors approve financial statements at 55th Annual Meeting (first stage)

The ADB Board of Governors convened the Business Session of the 55th Annual Meeting (first stage) on 5 May 2022 and approved ADB’s financial statements and net income allocation. See President Masatsugu Asakawa's speech and the Chair of the Board of Governors, Minister of Finance of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka M.U.M. Ali Sabry's remarks. Watch the proceedings. Read the news release.

22 April 2022 President Asakawa meets with international financial institution heads, US and Canadian government officials in Washington DC

During his mission to Washington, DC on 17-22 April 2022, President Masatsugu Asakawa discussed the impact in Asia and the Pacific of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19 pandemic recovery, and climate action in meetings with World Bank President David Malpass, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, and others. He also spoke at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on 20 April and hosted a meeting of the heads of regional development banks, including African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Inter-American Development Bank, at ADB's North America Representative Office on 22 April. In addition to meeting with developing member country government officials and prominent US think tanks, President Asakawa also met key US government counterparts, including Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. President Asakawa also met with Canada’s Minister of International Development Harjit S. Sajjan. With the US and Canadian government counterparts, President Asakawa discussed economic prospects and COVID-19 recovery in Asia and the Pacific; food security and supply chains; and ADB’s innovative approaches to climate finance. 

8 April 2022 President Asakawa calls for stronger regional cooperation to strengthen economic recovery at ASEAN meeting

President Masatsugu Asakawa on 8 April 2022 virtually participated in the 8th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting with other International Financial Institutions. The meeting was chaired by Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister of Economy and Finance and ADB Governor Aun Pornmoniroth with National Bank of Cambodia Governor, Chea Chanto as co-chair. President Asakawa, in his speech, highlighted ADB’s continued support to ASEAN countries to navigate the headwinds ahead, and achieve a green, inclusive, and resilient recovery. To sustain the recovery momentum, he identified three policy priorities, namely strengthening regional cooperation, enhancing domestic resource mobilization, and scaling up investment for green and inclusive growth. Officials from the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank also participated in the meeting. 

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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.

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Asian Development Bank opens workshop in Tokyo for the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the PacificAsian Development Bank opens workshop in Tokyo for the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the PacificIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsIMT-GT Summit / Meetings with Government OfficialsMeeting with Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance, People's Republic of ChinaPresident Masatsugu Asakawa attends G20 Leaders' Summit