Japan nominates former foreign exchange diplomat Kanda to head ADB By Reuters

By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will nominate Masato Kanda, the country’s former foreign exchange diplomat, as a candidate to become the next head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday.

Since the ADB was founded in 1966, its top job has always been held by someone from Japan, which, along with the United States, is the bank’s largest shareholder. That makes Kanda a strong candidate to fill the position.

“(Kanda) is best suited to lead ADB because he is well-versed in Asia-Pacific business and has built deep networks with executives from various countries and international institutions,” Suzuki told a regular news conference.

Kanda, if elected, will succeed Masatsugu Asakawa, who announced on Monday his intention to step down from his post effective February 23, 2025.

The development lender said in a statement that the selection of the next ADB president will follow “an open, transparent and merit-based process.”

Kanda, who stepped down in July after three years as vice finance minister for international affairs, led massive yen-buying intervention crises in foreign exchange markets in 2022 and 2024. He currently serves as a special adviser to the cabinet.

Asakawa, also a former top Japanese foreign exchange diplomat, became ADB president in January 2020 and oversaw measures to help the region’s economies cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several emerging economies, buoyed by their rapid growth, have questioned the tradition of advanced economies occupying top positions at global financial institutions.

Officials from the United States run the World Bank and Europeans run the International Monetary Fund.