Philippines backs Asakawa bid for ADB top post

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) has backed the nomination of Masatsugu Asakawa, special advisor to the Japanese prime minister and to the Minister of Finance, as the next president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In a statement, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the Philippine government is supporting Asakawa’s nomination, as his experience in global financial affairs would enable the ADB achieve its goal of wider economic inclusion across the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan has nominated Asakawa to succeed incumbent ADB president Takehiko Nakao, who has expressed his intention to resign from his post effective Jan. 16, 2020.

“We welcome the nomination of special advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister and to the Minister of Finance, Masatsugu Asakawa as the next president of the ADB, where his extensive experience in international finance, development and taxation would prove to be a valuable asset in helping the ADB continue reinventing itself and pursuing new strategies to help the region achieve inclusive growth amid a global economic slowdown,” said Dominguez, who sits as ADB governor for the Philippines.

He added that Asakawa, who has worked with various international organizations, would also be able to sustain the ADB’s ongoing efforts with the World Bank (WB) in delivering more efficiently development assistance to the Asia-Pacific region.

Dominguez said Asakawa would ensure continuity in the reforms initiated by Nakao, such as strengthened climate finance programs, expanded interventions in education and health care, and increased infrastructure investments in the region.

According to Dominguez, Asakawa was instrumental in orchestrating a globally coordinated financial package to abate the financial crisis in 2008, which included a $100-billion loan from Japan to the IMF. He was also Japan’s former vice finance minister for international affairs.

The finance chief noted that when Asakawa served as vice finance minister, the Philippines saw “tremendous improvement” in the official development assistance (ODA) extended by Japan.

“Special advisor Asakawa helped set the stage for the ‘fast and sure’ approach we are adopting with Japan now in implementing the big-ticket infrastructure projects being funded with Japanese ODA,” he added.

In his capacity as vice finance minister, Asakawa also took a leading role in the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in 2016 in Sendai, Japan, where disaster prevention and management was discussed.