Past ADB Presidents
Tadao Chino
(16 January 1999 - 31 January 2005)
Tadao Chino, ADB's seventh president took office during a challenging period. Several developing member countries (DMCs) were still suffering after the 1997-98 financial crisis and needed help in recovering.
Under Chino's leadership, several important ADB policies and strategies were approved: Poverty Reduction Strategy, Private Sector Development, ADB reorganization, and Resident Mission Policy. ADB also adopted its long-term strategic framework to provide strategic direction and to position ADB to assist DMCs achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
ADB took a proactive role in postconflict reconstruction in countries, such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. Finally, in early 2004, donor countries agreed to a $7 billion replenishment for the ADF IX period 2005-2008.
Mitsuo Sato
(24 November 1993 - 15 January 1999)
Mitsuo Sato, the Bank's sixth President, oversaw a wide-ranging slate of reforms to strengthen the ability of the Bank to respond to the development needs of its developing member countries.
Under Sato, the institution underwent a re-organization to shift to a closer country focus, and instituted a process to ensure project quality, and committed itself to pursuing social development objectives.
Kimimasa Tarumizu
(24 November 1989 - 23 November 1993)
Kimimasa Tarumizu, the Bank's fifth President, oversaw the transfer of the bank to its new headquarters in Mandaluyong after 19 years on Roxas Boulevard. This allowed the Bank to centralize its operations which had spread to several locations over the years. Under Tarumizu, the Bank's annual lending commitments rose to almost $5 billion. The cumulative total by 1991 was $37.6 billion for 1.039 projects.
On the borrowing front, the Bank entered new markets with the launch in 1991 of a $300 million "Dragon bond" issue which was offered simultaneously in the capital markets of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.
Masao Fujioka
(24 November 1981 - 23 November 1989)
Masao Fujioka was a man in a hurry when he took over in 1981. Upon his arrival at the airport, he sent his bags home and was driven straight to the office. Fujioka was instrumental in promoting greater coordination of Bank operations, increased co-financing, and equity investments to private enterprise.
In 1986, the People's Republic of China joined the Bank, and the first loan was approved for India, a $100 million loan to the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India for onlending to private sector enterprises.
Under Fujioka, additional replenishments were made to ADF, and the Japan Special Fund was created. Fujioka also presided over a third general capital increase (GCI III) in 1983 which raised the Bank's capital by 105 per cent.
Taroichi Yoshida
(24 November 1976 - 23 November 1981)
Taroichi Yoshida, appointed in 1976, was concerned from the outset with economy and husbandry. His administration developed additional strategies to reduce poverty in the region, and restructured operations to take a more country-focused view. Multiproject loans, a cost effective means of funding projects too small for Bank involvement, were introduced. The first multiproject loans were made to Tonga.
In 1978, donors agreed to a second replenishment to ADF (ADF III) in the amount of $2.15 billion to cover the period from 1979-1982. In 1980, the Bank initiated sector lending under which a single loan is used to finance a cluster of subprojects with a specific sector or subsector. The first sector loans were provided to Indonesia for water supply and Thailand for highway construction.
Shiro Inoue
(25 November 1972 - 23 November 1976)
In 1972, Shiro Inoue was appointed as the Bank's second President. Under Inoue, lending commitments rose steadily from $316 million in 1972 to $776 million in 1976. In response to the economic dislocation of the first oil crisis on the region's developing countries, the Bank supported the development of indigenous energy resources, and dam projects for electricity generation.
Membership continued to grow -- Bangladesh and Myanmar joined in 1973, followed by a number of Pacific Island countries seeking membership after gaining independence. In 1974, the Asian Development Fund (ADF) was established to streamline the Bank's means for financing concessional loans.
Takeshi Watanabe
(24 November 1966 - 24 November 1972)
President Watanabe, the first President of the ADB, combined idealism with practicality, toughness with compassion. Watanabe once likened the ADB to "a family doctor" who tries to learn about the health of his many patients so he can help in their hour of need. Policies and targets were formulated, and regional surveys were undertaken to develop a fuller understanding of the social and economic conditions of the Bank's developing member countries.
The Bank approved its first loan -- a $5 million to the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand for onlending to industrial enterprises -- on 23 January 1968, just a little more than a year after it had started business.
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