The Ministry of Strategy and Finance recommended a former vice minister versed in international finance as the successor to Bindu Lohani, the vice president for knowledge management and sustainable development of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), whose term expires next month, but the former vice minister has a slim chance.
At present, the most promising candidate is the Indonesian one. It is Japan that holds the key in the selection of the vice president. With Indonesia’s strategic importance for Japan increasing these days, conditions are becoming unfavorable for the other two candidates from Korea and India. In addition, Indonesia represents 5.17 percent of the ADB, 0.11 percentage points higher than Korea’s share ratio.
The ADB has five vice presidential positions shared by the United States, China, Europe, Nepal, and India, under the leadership of Japanese president Takehiko Nakao. Korea took one of the vice presidenial positions between 1988 and 2003, before China and India took the place.
Under the circumstances, another keen competition similar to that in the ADB is likely to be witnessed in the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as well, with the share ratios of the founding members slated to be fixed before the end of this month.