Lecture by Mr. Yoshinobu Tatewaki, from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Talk by Mr. Yoshinobu Tatewaki from Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 17 May 2023

The guest speaker provided a practitioner’s insights on the development finance.
As the primary objective of the multilateral development banks/institution, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is eradicating extreme poverty, he clarified the definition of poverty. On top of the common definition of below US$1.9 per day, the speaker also quoted other public intellectuals in defining poverty as a threat to peace and human rights. Dr. Amartya Sen’s ‘Development as Freedom’ states that freedom as the primary objective of development. He sees parallels with Soka University’s focus to discover students’ potential. Recent examples in the development finance includes response to emergencies such as COVID-19 vaccine assistance and the assistance to Afghan’s basic-human needs, in addition to providing the loans for infrastructure building. Climate Change will be a major focus in the future. Businesses and private sector do have critical role in development.
Active questions and answers session touched upon various topics such as (i) the role of governments when it comes to crises; (ii) the level of engagement with the projects themselves; (iii) issue of corruption; (iv) key skills relevant to youth’s career development; (v) air quality issues in India; and (vi) the ADB internship and scholarship programs. He concluded, with his personal experiences, seeking a great mentor is the key to growth of youth.

The excerpts of comments from the students who attended are as follows.

• “The Special Lecture done by Mr. Tatewaki was very informative in that he not only gave us a deeper understanding of the work done by the Asian Development Bank, but he also gave us some insights with regards to his own experience as a student and as a professional.”

 

• “Before this lecture, I did not have many insights about how and what ADB does to help the community, as I never came across such an organization before joining IBSP. After the lecture, I had a better understanding of ADB and started thinking to myself about how I can serve society when I graduate next year. As mentioned by Mr. Tatewaki, it is important to define one’s mission in life, and believe we will be able to contribute in a bigger way in our productive years. This really gave me a heartfelt boost in my motivation to do better. As of now, I do not know for sure how to go about doing it as yet, but it is never too late to start discovering my mission from henceforth.

 

• “Thank you for taking the efforts to conduct such an informative, motivating, and interactive lecture on how businesses impact economic development. Hearing his personal background motivated me personally as well others to not give up and fight with resilience and resolve.”

 

• “After I listened to Tatewaki's speech, I think what I should do is to help others make the world a better place. I should not always be concerned about making money. A love for humanity might also be a noble thing for me to pursue. ”

Talk by Mr. Yoshinobu Tatewaki from Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 19 May 2021

Mr. Tatewaki, who works with the ADB, conducted a lecture titled “Power of Business- Essential to Economic Development and Achieving SDGs” for the IBSP students on May 19, 2021.

He graduated from Soka University in 1993. Though he faced financial hardship as a student and worked as he studied, he successfully passed the highly competitive national exam, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), in Japan. The experience forged through his tough life on SOKA University campus as a student became his self-motivation to want to fight against poverty with an aim to protect human dignity and work for peace. (*1)

He introduced a speech “Peace and Business” delivered by Dr. Daisaku Ikeda at the University of Philippines on April 21, 1991, suggesting “fairness” as a spiritual backbone of businesspersons who aim to contribute to peace.

Businesses are essential for successful regional economic development. Businesses enhance efficiency, spread cutting-edge know-how, empower people, and create sustainable business models. He introduced one example, the Khadi(*2) reform program in India which was supported by ADB. Through various business analysis, policy changes, and IT system enhancement, the Khadi reform program achieved changes and improvements in the village industries in India, and peoples’ lives. The program brought about more profits and employment opportunities, empowerment of women, higher education for children, self-confidence, and hope for many lives in rural areas of India.

*1 After working with an international accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and with an international organization in New York, he has worked with ADB for 14 years since 2007.　 From March 2019, he assumed the position of Assistant Controller, Loan Administration Division, Controller’s Department in Manila, ADB headquarters. The lecture was intended to share his experiences and perspectives, and not to represent ADB.

*2 The device Khadi refers to a hand-spun and hand-woven cloth, and a symbol of the self-reliant spirit of India. Mahatma Gandhi once said it was “the symbol of economic freedom and equality”.

This was a good example of development finance for poverty alleviation contributed to SDGs, among others; No Poverty (Goal 1), Gender Equality (Goal 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure (Goal 9), Reduced Inequality (Goal 10), Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12) and Partnerships for the Goals (Goal 17).
At last, the lecture was concluded with three remarks to the students; to accomplish one thing first, one has to be tough and never give up, and to seek a great mentor.

The excerpts of comments from the students who attended are as follows.

• “The Special Lecture done by Mr. Tatewaki was very informative in that he not only gave us a deeper understanding of the work done by the Asian Development Bank, but he also gave us some insights with regards to his own experience as a student and as a professional.”

 

• “Before this lecture, I did not have many insights about what and how ADB does to help the community, as I never came across such an organization before joining IBSP. After the lecture, I had a better understanding of ADB and started thinking to myself that what can I do to serve society when I graduate next year? As mentioned by Mr. Tatewaki, it is important to define one’s mission in life, and believe that we will be able to contribute in a bigger way while we can. This really gave me a boost in my heart about what I can do better. As of now, I could not know for sure and how to go about it yet, but it is never too late to start discovering my [life] mission from now.

 

• “Thank you for taking the efforts to conduct such an informative, motivating, and interactive lecture on how businesses impact economic development. Hearing his personal background motivated me personally as well others to not give up and fight with resilience and resolve.”

 

• “After I listened to Tatewaki's speech, I think what I should do is to help others and make the world a better place. I should not always be concerned about making money. Humanity's love might also be a good thing for me to pursue. ”