Shigeo Shimizu is appointed as Executive Director for Japan effective 3 August 2023.

Prior to his appointment in ADB, he was Executive Director for Croatia, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Slovenia and United Kingdom at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. where he served as chairperson of the Audit Committee and the Organization, Human Resources and Board Matters Committee.

Mr. Shimizu has extensive experience in the public sector, especially on the international front. On international trade issues, as Councilor at the Cabinet Secretariat, he led policies and programs on the Japan-US Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP/TPP11). Both agreements went effective during his term (2018 - 2020).

With regard to international development, Mr. Shimizu was a Director at Ministry of Finance responsible for policies on multilateral development banks, including ADB, the IDB, and the World Bank (2011 - 2013). From 2009 to 2011, he served as Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) policies to East and Southeast Asian countries and Oceanian countries.

Mr. Shimizu was Minister at the Embassy of Japan in the USA (2015 to 2018). From 2013 to 2015, he oversaw and managed Japanese defense expenditures at the Ministry of Defense. He has also worked for Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO Düsseldorf, Germany) and International Monetary Fund (Washington, D.C.).

Mr. Shimizu holds a LLB from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University.