ADB Board of Governors re-elects Haruhiko Kuroda as President

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors has unanimously re-elected Haruhiko Kuroda as President of ADB for a further five years beginning on November 24, said a statement issued by the ADB here on Thursday.

Kuroda was first elected ADB President in November 2004, officially assuming office on February 1, 2005 to complete the term of former President Tadao Chino. He was subsequently reelected for a full five-year term beginning November 2006.

Kuroda is the eighth President of ADB. Under his stewardship, ADB adopted a new long-term strategy charting the Bank's strategic course to the year 2020, refocusing ADB's operational agenda on inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional cooperation and integration.

During Kuroda's tenure, ADB has tripled its capital base from $55 billion to $165 billion, and significantly bolstered its concessional lending window, Asian Development Fund, enabling ADB to push forward on mainstreaming climate change and strengthening support to countries in fragile and conflict-affected situations among others.

"I am honoured by the decision of ADB's Board of Governors to serve a second five-year term and look forward to the challenges ahead," said Mr. Kuroda. "While countries in Asia and the Pacific have made remarkable progress since I first joined ADB over six years ago, we must not forget that the region is still home to hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people. There is still much work to be done."

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011