ADB appoints woman to head Pacific Dept

The Asian Development Bank has appointed its first woman as the new Director General for its Pacific Department.

Ma Carmela Locsin, who assumed office this week, will head the implementation of the Pacific Approach 2016-2020, which prioritises the bank's assistance to help reduce the cost of doing business, manage risks of climate change and economic shocks and creates a more enabling environment for the private sector.

The Pacific Approach serves as ADB's overall country partnership strategy for the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

It also has individual partnership strategies for the three larger Pacific developing member countries - Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.