ADB President Masato Kanda secures second term
Masato Kanda has been re-elected as President of the Asian Development Bank for a second term, Qazinform News Agency reports.
In a resounding vote of confidence, the ADB Board of Governors has unanimously re-elected Kanda to serve a full five-year term as President.
“I am deeply honored by the trust our members have placed in me at this critical moment in our region’s history,” Kanda said in a statement following the election. “New shocks are striking Asia and the Pacific, even before economies have recorded from the last, and the international order is under its greatest strain in generations.”
Kanda’s new five-year term will officially begin on November 24, 2026. He originally took office on February 24, 2025, after winning a special election in late 2024 to complete the remaining term of his predecessor, Masatsugu Asakawa.
Under Kanda’s brief initial tenure, the ADB shattered financial records to meet the soaring demands of its developing member countries. In 2025, the bank deployed a record-breaking $44 billion in total support.
Earlier, the ADB had approved $5 million emergency grant for Nepal flood relief.