Morris named ADB VP for SE Asia

MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has named Scott Morris as vice-president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

In a statement, the multilateral lender said Morris will be responsible for the management of the operations of ADB’s East Asia Department, Southeast Asia Department, and Pacific Department for three years.

An expert on development finance and debt policy, Morris has over 25 years of experience in international economic policymaking and research.

He is  a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD) in Washington, DC, where he has been director of the US Development Policy Program and co-director of the Sustainable Development Finance Program.

His work at CGD involves multilateral and bilateral development finance, including the role of concessional finance in supporting low-income and climate-vulnerable countries.

Morris was co-director of the 2015 High-Level Panel on the Future of Multilateral Development Banking and the principal author of an independent evaluation of the merger in 2014 of ADB’s Asian Development Fund with its ordinary capital resources balance sheet.

Having previously served as deputy assistant secretary for development finance and debt in the US Treasury, Morris has worked closely with senior government officials across Asia and the Pacific and with various nongovernmental organizations.

In that role, he was responsible for overseeing US participation in multilateral institutions, including ADB, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank.

Morris also worked as the principal staff member of the committee on financial services in the US House of Representatives and advisor to the committee chair on international financial and economic issues.

He has likewise held oversight roles on committee matters relevant to international financial institutions and the US Export–Import Bank, international investment issues, exchange rates, monetary policy, and trade in financial services.

Established in 1966, ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.