Former Japanese vice Minister Takehiko Nakao has been elected as the President of Asian Development Bank (ADB).

57 year old Nakao replaces Haruhiko Kuroda, who stepped down in last month to become the Governor of Japan’s central bank.

Nakao, will assume office on April 28 as the ninth President of ADB.

The ADB, which has 67 member countries and territories including Japan and the United States, helps its developing members tackle poverty by providing loans, technical assistance and grants for a broad range of development activities.

According to ADB’s own data, it approved 21.72 billion US Dollars’ worth of financing in 2011.

Finance Minister  P Chidambaram, who is also Chairman of the ADB board of governors, said, “The ADB board of governors looks forward to working with Mr Takehiko Nakao and his strong leadership of the institution.”

The Manila-based multi-lateral institution will hold its annual meeting in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh from May 2-5.