OREANDA-NEWS. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors has unanimously reelected Takehiko Nakao as President of ADB for a further 5 years beginning on 24 November 2016.

Mr. Nakao was first elected as President by the Board of Governors on 28 April 2013 to serve the 3 and a half years remaining of the term of his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda. Mr. Nakao is the ninth President of ADB. He was the sole nominee after ADB’s Governors were invited from 31 May to 30 June 2016 to make nominations for the organization’s presidency.

“It is a great honor to receive the mandate of ADB members to serve as President of the ADB for another 5 years,” said Mr. Nakao. “I will devote myself to continuing to lead ADB to an even more elevated standing as the primary development institution in the region that helps achieve inclusive and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.”

During Mr. Nakao’s first term, ADB has realigned its strategic priorities through the Midterm Review of Strategy 2020 and increased its lending capacity from $13 billion in 2014 to $20 billion by 2020 through the merger of Asian Development Fund operations with the Ordinary Capital Resources balance sheet. The scaling up of its operations has already made good progress. Last year, ADB’s loan and grant approvals reached a record $16.3 billion, including private sector operations of $2.6 billion, which is also a record high. ADB’s Board of Governors in May approved a replenishment of the Asian Development Fund of $3.8 billion.

Under Mr. Nakao’s leadership, in order to serve client countries better, ADB has also implemented institutional reforms 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.

Prior to joining ADB in 2013, Mr. Nakao was a senior official in the Ministry of Finance, Japan, where he gained extensive experience in international finance and development. Mr. Nakao also taught international finance as a Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo in 2010 and 2011. Born in 1956, Mr. Nakao holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Tokyo and a M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2015, ADB assistance totaled $27.2 billion, including cofinancing of $10.7 billion.