Asia Development Bank (ADB) president Takehiko Nakao has announced that he is planning to resign in early 2020.
Finance Minister Taro Aso said in a statement that Japan, which usually heads the ADB as a top donor, would soon release its nomination for a "high-caliber candidate" to succeed Nakao. Aso added that the Japanese government is planning to recommend Masatsugu Asakawa, who formerly served as a vice finance minister, as the "best qualified" for the job.
The 63-year-old Nakao, who will resign as ADB president on Jan. 16, 2020, said he was leaving to give way for someone with "fresh ideas." He started serving as ADB president in 2013 when his predecessor Haruhiko Kuroda was appointed as Bank of Japan governor. He finished Kuroda's remaining term of three and a half years. He opted to leave his post earlier despite being re-elected to a second five-year term in 2016.
Under the leadership of Nakao, ADB realigned its strategic priorities through the Midterm Review of Strategy 2020 and boosted its lending capacity from $13 billion in 2014 to $20 billion by 2020. This was made possible by merging Asian Development Fund operations with the Ordinary Capital Resources balance sheet.
ADB posted a record amount of $16.3 billion in loan and grant approvals, which included another record high of $2.6 billion in private sector operations. Several institutional reforms were also implemented under Nakao, including delegating more authority to resident missions, streamlining procurement and other procedures, establishing the Office of Public-Private Partnership, and strengthening sector and thematic expertise.
Meanwhile, the 61-year-old Asakawa worked as Japan's top currency official for four years before taking on the role of a government adviser in July.
According to the Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei, government officials have expressed concerns over the possibility of China challenging Japan in its leadership over the Manila, Philippines-based bank. The ADB president has come from Japan since it was founded in 1966.
However, ADB released a statement saying "The election for the new president will be in accordance with the open, transparent and merit-based procedure."
