President Takehiko Nakao and Mrs. Asako Nakao; President-elect Masatsugu Asakawa and Mrs. Akiko Asakawa; BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno; Board of Directors of the ADB; Vice Presidents of the ADB; employees of ADB, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
First of all, I congratulate President Takehiko Nakao for having been awarded the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Grand Cross or Datu by President Duterte. It is the Philippines’ highest civilian recognition conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the country.
What we are holding today is a bittersweet event. It is with a mixed sense of deep gratitude and regret that I carry out my duty to bid farewell to a good friend and a tireless partner in development work.
In the nearly seven years President Nakao headed the ADB, the Bank did not only see a dramatic increase in new lending, new financing modalities, and expansion of its operations. Bold reforms were introduced. For instance, President Nakao has been instrumental in launching the Strategy 2030, which sets out the course for ADB to respond effectively to the region’s changing needs.
President Nakao likewise introduced forward-looking institutional reforms that aim to make the Bank’s operations stronger, faster, and better. He encouraged a “One ADB” approach that bolstered closer collaboration among departments, headquarters, and field offices along with sovereign and private sector operations.
I also commend President Nakao for his openness to reinvent the institution’s programs as we move into a more technologically driven age. He modernized the Bank’s information technology systems and encouraged the ADB to share its wealth of technical knowledge to provide transaction advisory services. The Bank has established a thematic group that focuses on the adoption of digital technology programs for its member countries.
As you know, I have personally called for Multilateral Development Banks, such as ADB, World Bank and AIIB, to closely coordinate their development efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. When I broached this suggestion to President Nakao, he did not just welcome the proposal but reaffirmed his strong commitment for coordination with the World Bank and the AIIB to ensure a more efficient delivery of development assistance to client countries. At present, the World Bank and the ADB are holding dialogues to ensure non-duplication and complementarity of activities.
The Philippines particularly benefitted from President Nakao’s innovation. Through his leadership, the ADB demonstrated its full confidence in the Duterte administration’s capability to carry out a comprehensive development strategy for rapid and inclusive growth by raising its financial commitment to the Philippines to about 15 billion US dollars from 2016 to 2022. This total commitment is almost triple the amount provided by the Bank to the last administration. These resources will finance programs geared to close the country’s infrastructure gap, enhance the local business climate, promote countryside development, and achieve lasting peace and development in Mindanao.
The Department of Finance, in particular, is grateful for the technical assistance the ADB has provided for our comprehensive tax reform program since December of 2016. It has greatly supported the Department’s efforts to make the tax system simpler, fairer, and more efficient. The tax reform program has provided a sustainable stream of revenues to make meaningful investments in our infrastructure and our people. Alongside other economic reforms, it contributes to an increasingly inclusive and credit-worthy economy, affirmed by credit rating agencies as well as domestic and global bond markets.
We likewise thank the ADB for making its single largest infrastructure investment commitment in the Philippines and in any country with the 2.75 billion US-dollar multi-tranche facility for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project. This is one of the major strategic projects under the Build, Build, Build program.
Along with these projects, the ADB has been providing us numerous forms of assistance in the areas of human capital development, local governance sector reform, disaster risk management, and urban and regional connectivity, among others.
All the projects initiated with President Nakao’s strong support will have a great impact on the Philippines’ development for many years to come. These projects will link communities, provide better logistical backbone for the economy, and draw investments for building our people’s future.
On behalf of the Philippine Government, I express extreme gratitude to President Nakao for the nearly seven fruitful years he has served as head of the ADB. I am grateful to know that you consider our country as the ADB’s home. You have been a great asset for Asia’s development and an effective leader of this institution. More importantly, you have proven to be a true friend and partner to the Duterte administration in bringing about President Duterte’s ultimate goal of liberating Filipinos from poverty.
We wish you the best in all the undertakings you will pursue from hereon in. We also wish you fair winds and following seas. Thank you.
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