Monday, September 18, 2023 — Asia Society Northern California welcomed Ambassador Chantale Wong (U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)) to our latest Executive Roundtable. Additional speakers included F. Cleo Kawawaki (Head of ADB’s Office of Public-Private Partnership) and Danica R. Starks (Senior U.S. Commercial Liaison and Advisor to the World Bank U.S. Executive Director, Head of the Commerce Department’s Multilateral Development Bank Group). Wong, Kawawaki, and Starks shared opportunities for multilateral banks and private investors in the United States and Asia to partner in funding sustainable development projects in the Asia-Pacific.

Ambassador Wong opened with her keynote, speaking on ADB’s focus on sustainable development in the face of ongoing global challenges, disruptions, and disasters. To achieve sustainability, Ambassador Wong stressed the need for collaboration between public and private players to jointly fund sustainable infrastructure and other development. 

Kawawaki presented additional ways private finance actors can work with ADB to fund development projects. While sharing how ADB is available for collaboration, Kawawaki further underscored how sustainability is central to the projects ADB supports. Starks also  discussed the changes and continuities present in the United States' involvement with global development programs, specifically through the U.S. Department of Commerce and the World Bank. Starks emphasized how the U.S. Executive Branch and Department of Commerce have strengthened its relationship with multilateral institutions, like the World Bank, to maintain influence in global development.