Incoming ADB chief advocating social inclusion

WASHINGTON D.C. (AFP) — The leading nominee for the presidency of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has conveyed to the Philippines his plans to enhance the institution’s capability in ensuring “social inclusion” through better education and healthcare across the region.

Masatsugu Asakawa, the former Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister and a former Vice Minister of Finance, also informed Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III of his plans to shore up the bank’s expertise in international taxation and develop a universal framework for a global electronic commerce tax system.

Asakawa announced the plans for the multilateral institution during a meeting here earlier with the Finance Secretary on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2019 Annual Meetings.

He told Secretary Dominguez that social inclusion, which can be achieved by providing better education and health care, is an indispensable element in sustaining a country’s high economic growth and reducing poverty and income inequality.

“Securing high quality jobs of people could be a better instrument than transfer of money. So, the so-called ‘social inclusion,’ which means providing more education, securing more healthcare to let them have better jobs is really important. So far ADB has done something but I would like to expand the conversation as well,” Asakawa said during the meeting.

Secretary Dominguez said ADB’s priorities in this aspect are in sync with the socio-economic reform agenda of President Duterte, whose administration has provided free tertiary education in the Philippines’ state universities and colleges and will start implementing next year a Universal Health Care (UHC) program that will primarily benefit low-income Filipinos.

Asakawa commended the Philippine government for putting in place these social-inclusion initiatives, particularly the UHC program, which he described as “really good.”

A former chairman of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asakawa also underscored during the meeting the importance of implementing a universal framework to tax multinational companies profiting from the highly lucrative electronic trade of goods in the global marketplace.