Keynote Speaker

Ambassador Curtis S. Chin assumed his duties as U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with the rank of ambassador, in May 2007.  Based in the Philippines, Ambassador Chin serves on the ADB’s Board of Directors, which supervises the multi-lateral development bank’s financial statements, approves its administrative budget, and reviews and approves policy documents and loan, equity, and technical assistance operations.  

Established in 1966 with headquarters in Manila, the ADB is owned by 67 member nations – including 38 developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific, stretching from the Caucuses to the Pacific Islands – who have committed more than US$133 billion to the vision of a region free of poverty.  The United States and Japan are the largest co-equal shareholders.  India, China, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Viet Nam are the largest borrowers.

Previously, Mr. Chin served as a managing director with the international public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller where he focused on crisis/issues management, corporate responsibility, stakeholder engagement and public-private sector partnerships.  He has lived and worked throughout the United States and Asia, including in Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo.  Ambassador Chin previously served on the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, and during the George H.W. Bush Administration served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.   The son of a career U.S. military officer, Ambassador Chin spent his youth in Bangkok, Taipei and Seoul as well as in the U.S. states of Arizona, Maryland and Virginia.  He is a graduate of the Yale University School of Management and of Northwestern University.