Press Conference,
Haruhiko Kuroda,
President of Asian Development Bank

The speech and Q & A will be in English.

Could Asia be facing a new financial crisis as the stability that has characterized the region's economy since the last crisis erupted a decade ago comes under renewed threat from soaring inflation? For example, there are concerns that problems in Vietnam - with its currency and economy under pressure from soaring inflation and ballooning current account deficit, could spread throughout the region.

En-route to the G8 summit in Hokkaido, Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda has agreed to brief the FCCJ on the renewed economic threat facing Asia, and on how skyrocketing fuel and food prices will impact efforts to conquer poverty in the region.

Kuroda was elected as president of the ADB in November 2004 and was reelected in November 2006 for a new five-year term.

Before joining the ADB, he served as special advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and professor at the graduate school of economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Kuroda has represented Japan's Ministry of Finance at a number of international monetary conferences as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. During his terms as Director-General of the International Bureau and as Vice Minister of Finance between 1997 and 2003, he helped design and implement the U.S. $30 billion Miyazawa Initiative ­ Japan's response to Asian economies hit by the 1997-1998 financial crisis. Under his leadership, Japan helped Asian nations establish the Chiang Mai Initiative, a network of currency swap agreements designed to avert another crisis.

Haruhiko Kuroda