ADB appoints Neeraj Jain as Philippines Country Office Director

Singapore, Apr 21 (UNI) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Neeraj Jain as the new Country Director of its Philippines Country Office on April 18.

Mr Jain takes over from Mr Tom Crouch, who was promoted to Deputy Director General, ADB Southeast Asia Department.

With many years of development experience in Asia and Pacific, Mr Jain has been with ADB for 12 years, the ADB said in a statement here today.

An Indian national a post-graduate in economics, Mr Jain was Country Director of the ADB's Tajikistan Resident Mission from 2005 to 2007.

He has also worked as ADB economist and relationship manager for the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.

''ADB has a unique relationship with the Philippines since we have our headquarters in Manila.'' Mr Jain said, adding, ''The Philippines is a strategic partner of ADB and I look forward to working once again in building the ADB-Philippines development partnership by working closely with government, civil society and other stakeholders.'' Having lived and worked in the Philippines for over 10 years, Mr Jain said he is looking forward to his new assignment.

The Philippines Country Office was established in September 2000 at ADB's headquarters in Manila, and is dedicated to the bank's operations in the Philippines.

Its vision statement says, ''As a long-term development partner living and working in Manila, ADB understands the challenges and shares the aspirations of achieving a Philippines free of poverty.

We are committed to working with all Filipinos to move more rapidly to this goal.'' The Philippines is a founding member of the ADB and is the bank's 11th largest shareholder. It is the fifth largest borrower, with over nine billion dollar in loans since 1966, accounting for about eight per cent of total lending, and is one of the bank's largest clients for private sector lending and equity investments.

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