Director General,
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
F. Cleo Kawawaki assumed office as Director General for the newly-formed Sectors Department 2 in February 2025, which will manage operations for the agriculture, food, nature, rural development, water, urban development, and digital sectors. Ms. Kawawaki has more than 35 years of professional work experience, including over 24 years at ADB and 11 years in investment banking. She will continue to head ADB’s Office of Markets Development and Public-Private Partnership, which supports private sector-led growth in the region. She is a former Deputy Director General of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department and has held senior roles in ADB’s Central and West Asia Department including energy sector director. Before joining ADB, Ms. Kawawaki spent over a decade at Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. As an underwriter specializing in equity and financial structuring of bonds and syndication management, she led the documentation for UK electricity privatization, worked as a transaction advisor for state-owned enterprises, structured finance deals, and managed syndications for equity and bond sales in Japan and Hong Kong.
