The head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday said that he is hoping the US would step up and support the regional lender despite US President Donald Trump’s avowed preference for bilateral cooperation.
ADB president Takehiko Nakao told journalists at a news conference wrapping up the bank’s annual meeting that it “isn’t really good” that the second-largest shareholder in the development bank is lacking a permanent appointee to the US executive directorship.
Nakao said he hoped Washington would nominate an ambassador soon.
Photo: AP
Many such positions have yet to be filled, and the previous US ambassador to the ADB was ordered back to the US along with many other appointees of the previous administration.
For a country that is a co-founder of one of the world’s most influential lending institutions, the US’ presence at the ADB annual meeting — one marking its 50th year of operations — was low key.
Japan is the largest donor to the ADB and plays a leading role in its management. It is unclear what Trump’s “America First” foreign policy stance means for the ADB, or even for Asia in general.
Soon after taking office in January, Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade agreement, saying he prefers country-to-country trade deals.
Trump recently appointed US Treasury Department Chief of Staff Eli Miller as acting director of both the ADB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development pending a permanent appointment. Miller did not attend the ADB’s annual meeting.
The top US representative in Yokohama was US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia Robert Kaproth.
The ADB is preparing to set its long-term strategy for the years leading to 2030 and Nakao said he intends to make the lender “stronger, better and faster.”
The regional bank, which has dozens of member countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, has been a relatively efficient source of support for development of a region that once was characterized by extreme poverty, he said.
“The US investment in Asia has been very efficient and productive. I hope the US government will look at these issues and continue to invest in the ADB,” Nakao said.
A top priority for the ADB and other regional institutions is to help countries weather natural disasters and other threats. Apart from investing in infrastructure such as power plants, bridges and hospitals, the ADB provided financial support for countries during the 1997 Asian financial crisis and is seeking ways to leverage more private investment to help make up for shortfalls in funding.
One of the bank’s key roles has been to help reduce risks for investments in developing countries, thanks to its strong links to local governments.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
RSS