ADB picks new country director for Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank appointed Pavit Ramachandran as the new country director for the Philippines.

Ramanchandran assumed office on Friday.

“My immediate priority is to ensure we deliver on our commitments to help the country address its poverty, climate change, and infrastructure development challenges,” he said in a statement.

As country director, he will oversee the implementation of ADB’s country partnership strategy for the Philippines. The ADB previously identified $4 billion worth of sovereign loans to its host country this year, including infrastructure projects such as the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project and the Bataan–Cavite Interlink Bridge Project.

Ramachandran previously served as the ADB's country director for Mongolia, overseeing the preparation and implementation of their CPS.

Ramachandran has over 25 year of international development experience, which include 19 years as staff and consultant in ADB. He joined the ADB in May 2008, first as an environment specialist in the Southeast Asia department as he worked as a consultant five years prior.

He was later promoted as principal environment specialist in the ADB’s East Asia department.

Aside from this, the ADB noted Ramachandran worked on Philippine projects from 2009 to 2014, with an “an appreciation of the institutional context in the country.”

On top of that, he has a wide array of experience in designing and implementing programs and projects across Southeast and East Asia.

Ramachandran also did rounds in management consulting firms in the United States, with a keen focus on energy regulation and climate change reduction strategies.

Ramanchandran holds master’s degrees in public management from the University of Maryland in the US and in development sociology from the Delhi School of Economics in India. — Ramon Royandoyan