ADB president Asakawa meets Duterte, pledges support for development agenda

February 25, 2020

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Monday and pledged full support for the country’s proactive development agenda.

This was the first courtesy visit by Asakawa to Duterte, the ADB said in a press statement Tuesday.

He thanked Duterte for the Philippine government’s first-ever contribution to the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s lower-income developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific to reduce poverty and improve people’s quality of life.

At the dinner hosted by the Philippine government after the courtesy visit, Asakawa congratulated the Philippine government for its remarkable success in bringing down the national poverty rate to 16.6 percent in 2018 from 23.3 percent in 2015, thanks to the country’s high economic growth rates, job creation, and expanded social assistance programs.

The government aims to further reduce the national poverty rate to 14 percent by 2022.

“ADB’s partnership with our host country, the Philippines, has never been stronger,” said Asakawa. “ADB is committed to supporting the government’s effort to reduce poverty and create high quality jobs for Filipinos by building a competitive economy and caring society.” DMS