Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has taken over as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank at Manila in the Philippines. He took charge at the 45th Annual Meeting of ADB Board of Governors.

Mukherjee will hold this post till May, 2013. Mr. Mukherjee said that ADB has been a valued multilateral partner in India's economic growth.

He said that as one of the founder members of the ADB, India’s association with the ADB dates back to 1966 while the bank's lending operations in the country commenced two decades later in 1986.