Takehiko Nakao

Nakao was a career civil servant with the Finance Ministry of Japan which he joined in 1978.[2] During his career, Nakao served variously as Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C. and as an economic advisor at the International Monetary Fund in the mid-1990s.[3] As Japan's top currency official, Nakao oversaw the Japanese government's largest ever currency market intervention following the sharp appreciation of the yen in 2011.[2] He was also the Japanese representative at the G7 and G20 summits in 2012.[4] Before his nomination for the presidency of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Nakao was Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, which is the senior most civil service appointment within Japan's Finance Ministry.[5]

Nakao holds a degree in economics from the University of Tokyo where he later taught international finance during 2010-2011. He also holds a MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley.[6] In 2008, he authored the book America’s Economic Policy: Can it Sustain its Strength?.[2]

Nakao was nominated by Japan to be president of the ADB, succeeding his compatriot Haruhiko Kuroda, who resigned in March 2013 to become the governor of the Bank of Japan. Since its inception in 1966, ADB presidents have all been Japanese and although there was talk of a Chinese challenge, Nakao remained the sole nominee for the post.[5] He was unanimously elected president by the Board of Governors of the ADB and assumed office on April 28, 2013. In August 2016, the ADB Board appointed Nakao to a new five-year term, which began on November 24, 2016.[7]

As ADB President, Nakao identified securing financial resources for the ADB and promoting public-private partnerships as focus areas and called for a “more innovative, more inclusive and more integrated” development of the Asia-Pacific region. During his period as president, the ADB continued its focus on infrastructure, environment, regional integration, inclusiveness and gender equality, cofinancing initiatives and internal reforms to overcome the ADB's resource crunch and to streamline its performance.[8]

In January 2020, Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte awarded Nakao the Order of Sikatuna, the Philippines' highest civilian recognition, with the rank of Grand Cross, or Datu, in recognition of his services to the Philippines in supporting the national development program during his period as president of ADB.[9]