New ADB Director General for Pacific assumes office

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Carmela Locsin as new Director General for the bank’s Pacific Department.

Locsin, who has assumed office, is the first woman to head ADB’s department which covers the Pacific region.

Locsin will lead implementation of the Pacific Approach 2016–2020 which serves as ADB’s overall country partnership strategy for the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. ADB has individual partnership strategies for the three larger Pacific developing member countries – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.

The Pacific Approach prioritizes ADB assistance to the Pacific through a three-pronged approach to help reduce the cost of doing business, manage risks of climate change and economic shocks, and create a more enabling environment for the private sector.

“During ADB’s 50 years of partnership with the Pacific, we have learned that the region faces many development challenges due to the countries’ remoteness, fragility and high exposure to natural disasters,” said Ms. Locsin. “I look forward to serving the Pacific region and working closely with government counterparts, development partners and the private sector to help our 14 Pacific developing member countries meet these challenges.” 

ADB’s operations in the Pacific focus on transport, information and communication technology, and renewable energy to get goods to and from markets, create opportunities for electronic delivery of health and other services, and improve access to power supplies. ADB is also helping the Pacific region prepare for climate change and reduce the costs of doing business by modernizing tax systems, boosting access to credit, and reforming state-owned enterprises.

Prior to Locsin’s Pacific Department appointment, she was the Director General for ADB’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC); Head of the Office of Cofinancing Operations; Deputy Director General of the South Asia Department; and Deputy Director General for the Regional and Sustainable Development Department (now known as SDCC).

Before joining ADB in 1997 Locsin worked at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. She has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines.

Locsin replaces the outgoing Director General Xianbin Yao, who served the Pacific Department since 2012 and who now has joined the ADB President Nakao’s office as a Special Senior Advisor.  

ADB’s Pacific portfolio is made up of 65 active projects valued at more than US$2.5 billion.

 

Photo You Tube. Caption: Asian Development Bank has appointed Carmela Locsin as Director General for Pacific