Mr Ramesh Subramaniam, Director General and Group Chief, Sectors Group, Asia and the Pacific, of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), offers insights into Asia Pacific’s path towards a sustainable energy transition. He discusses how targeted sectoral shifts—from healthcare and urban mobility to maritime—can accelerate the region's energy transition. He shares ADB's approach to bridging funding gaps through innovative public-private partnerships. He also stresses the importance of regional cooperation in building a resilient and low carbon future.
What areas hold the most potential to accelerate Asia Pacific's energy transition?
How are public-private partnerships leveraging new financial tools to enhance energy system resilience?
What are the key components to achieving "A Connected and Sustainable Energy World", the theme for SIEW 2024?
About Ramesh Subramaniam, Director General and Group Chief, Sectors Group, Asia and the Pacific, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Mr Ramesh Subramaniam has been with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for over 25 years, since March 1997. He has worked across different functions and areas in over 25 countries throughout the sub-regions of Asia and the Pacific. In his current capacity as Director General of the Southeast Asia Department (SERD) since July 2017, he oversees ADB's relationship with the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Timor-Leste, as well as all of its sovereign engagement. He has been a member of multiple Global Agenda/Future Councils at the World Economic Forum (WEF) since 2012. He currently co-chairs the ASEAN Hub of WEF's Sustainable Development Investment Partnership.
Previously, Mr Subramaniam held senior roles in the Central and West Asia Department, the former Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI), and the former Operations Services and Financial Management Department (OSFMD). Outside of his work at ADB, he is a volunteer/coordinator at a school with about 170 children, promoting education centred on fundamental human values such as Truth, Peace, Right Conduct, Non-violence, and Love.
SERD comprises a talent pool of over 430 global and local staff, and currently manages over US$25 billion in projects under implementation. The department also oversees several ongoing policy and structural reform programmes, disbursing over US$12 billion in support. ADB's new sovereign commitments in Southeast Asia amount to around US$7 billion per year, spanning sectors such as transport, energy, urban, agriculture and natural resources, human development, finance, and public management sectors, besides regional cooperation and integration. Since February 2020, Mr Subramaniam has led ADB's work in the sub-region to help countries in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilising close to US$6 billion in financing for economic and health sector measures in Southeast Asia.
From 2021, the Southeast Asia Department's focus shifted to post-pandemic recovery and supporting the region in addressing climate change challenges. To this end, the department has adopted the "3M Approach": mainstreaming climate change in all of ADB's work; mobilising resources for climate adaptation and mitigation; and messaging the need for a just and affordable climate transition.
Mr Subramaniam has also served as the Director General of ADB's Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Department (2015–2017); Deputy Director General of SERD (2013–2015); Senior Director in the Office of Regional Economic Integration (2011–2013); Director of the Public Management and Financial Sector (2007–2010) as well as Director of Urban Infrastructure (2010–2011) in Central and West Asia; and Principal Economist and Deputy Country Director in Indonesia (2003–2007).
With a strong focus on policy and institutional reforms across the region, Mr Subramaniam seeks to help the region's developing member countries reduce poverty, achieve equitable growth, and attract greater private-sector investments. He has led several important initiatives such as the establishment of the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, various critical post-crisis counter-cyclical reforms and restructuring programmes in many countries, as well as post-disaster reconstruction projects across the Asia and the Pacific. The ASEAN Policy Network and the ASEAN Innovation Hub were established under his leadership in 2017. He also oversaw the establishment of the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility.
Among his most meaningful contributions, Mr Subramaniam considers his work in shaping ADB's support for developing member countries affected by devastating disasters to be particularly impactful. These include responses to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake; the 2006 Pakistan earthquake; the 2009 Pakistan floods; the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines; the 2018 Palu earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia; and most recently, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Subramaniam maintains a strong interest in using education as an instrument for change. He has been a proponent of social service delivery as a key part of his support for public-sector reforms in many countries. Outside of ADB, he is involved in a range of service activities in livelihood, healthcare, and education, with the aim of promoting basic yet fundamental human values of love, truth, peace, right conduct, and non-violence across society.
He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Madras, India (1988), and a PhD in Economics from McMaster University, Canada, where he was also a lecturer (1990–1993). He has been a research fellow on industry at the University of St. Andrews in the UK from December 1993 to January 1994, and a Rockefeller fellow at Yale University Economic Growth Center from February 1994 to March 1997.