ADB appoints Safdar Parvez as country director in China

Islamabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Safdar Parvez as its Country Director for the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Mr. Parvez has arrived in Beijing following his appointment last month, says a statement issued by the ADB on Monday.

As Country Director, he will oversee ADB’s operations in the PRC, including implementation of the country partnership strategy (CPS) that prioritizes high-quality, sustainable green development. The current CPS is central in reorienting ADB’s engagement in the PRC as an upper middle-income country.

“I am deeply honored to be leading the office in the PRC, where I look forward to strengthening ADB’s longtime partnership with the government and other significant stakeholders,” said Mr. Parvez. “ADB will continue the effective work we’ve been doing with the PRC as an important player in ensuring environmentally sustainable development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. We’ll work together towards solutions for health security and supporting an aging society. We will also seek to upscale our support for institutional development, knowledge management, and private sector development. Most importantly, we will facilitate sharing of knowledge and best practices between the PRC and developing member countries of ADB to support replicable development models.”

Safdar Parvez has more than 26 years of professional experience, including over 20 years with ADB. He joined ADB in 2002 and has held senior positions, including Director for Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination in Central and West Asia and Advisor in East Asia. He has been a key leader on a number of corporate strategy reforms and initiatives at ADB.

ADB has been working with the PRC since 1986. To date, ADB has committed 1,160 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $41.3 billion to the PRC. ADB’s green development work includes projects in the greater Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region to boost sustainable financing in renewable energy, clean transport, industrial energy efficiency, and cooling system retrofits.

A national of Pakistan, Mr. Parvez holds two master’s degree in economics: one from Cambridge University, United Kingdom, and another from Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan; and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Government College, Pakistan. Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Parvez was Programme Manager Policy at the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme.