Choo Kyung-ho Elected Chair of Next Year's ADB Annual Meeting... "A Platform for Asia's Rebound"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho delivers a welcome speech at the promotional event for the next host country of the 55th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held in Manila, Philippines, on the 29th (local time). (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho has been elected as the chairperson of the next Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting, which will be held in May next year in Songdo, Incheon. Deputy Prime Minister Choo emphasized that he will actively prepare to make next year’s meeting a “platform for Asia’s leap forward.”

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 30th, Deputy Prime Minister Choo attended the 55th ADB Annual Meeting held in Manila, Philippines, the day before, received the chairmanship from Sri Lanka, and conducted the event for the next host country. The event was attended by key figures including ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and delegations from various countries.

This will be the third time that South Korea hosts the ADB Annual Meeting in person, following Seoul in 1970 and Jeju in 2004. The original scheduled year was 2020, but the event was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19.

Next year’s ADB Annual Meeting will be held under the theme “Asia’s Leap Forward: Recovery, Reconnection, Reform.” Deputy Prime Minister Choo stated that he plans to prepare the meeting as a platform for Asia’s leap forward, overcoming global economic uncertainties and enabling member countries to reconnect closely and devise new policy reforms.

ADB President Asakawa expressed his expectations for next year’s meeting in his congratulatory remarks, saying that it will be the first fully in-person event in three years due to COVID-19 and will serve as an important opportunity for member countries to reaffirm their commitment to regional economic recovery.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, “Sustainable growth in the region must be based not only on physical infrastructure but also on soft infrastructure, which includes knowledge and solutions related to various fields,” adding, “Korea will actively contribute to strengthening ADB’s role as a knowledge bank based on its differentiated development experience and know-how.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.