ADB Presidential Candidate Plans Flexible Support in Emergencies; Wants to Respect Agreed Upon Strategies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:16 JST, October 5, 2024

Masato Kanda — the special advisor to the Cabinet and a candidate to become the next head of the Asian Development Bank — wants to create a system to provide flexible assistance in the event of natural disasters.

During an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday, Kanda said, if he assumes the presidency, he will respond flexibly to changes in the environment while respecting the strategies already agreed upon by member countries.

Kanda hopes to establish a system capable of providing more flexible support in emergencies, such as natural disasters, while taking over the policies of the current ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.

He described Japan as having empathy with other member states, as a country which regularly faces natural disasters, and wishing to make international contributions.

Regarding cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is led by China, he said that the ADB is not hostile with AIIB, and would like to cooperate with it in areas where the ADB can cooperate.”

The ADB presidential election will be held from Oct. 28 to Nov. 27, and the results will be announced on Nov. 28.