ADBI-RSIS BOOK LAUNCH-CUM-SEMINAR
“New Global Economic Architecture: The Asian Perspective”

Welcome Remarks
Ambassador Ong Keng Yong
Executive Deputy Chairman, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Overview of the Book
Dr Naoyuki Yoshino
Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute

Panellists

Dr Matthias Helble
Research Fellow, Asian Development Bank Institute

Dr Peter Morgan
Senior Consultant for Research, Asian Development Bank Institute

Professor Euston Quah
President, Economics Society of Singapore, and Head of Economics

Dr Pradumna B. Rana
Associate Professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Dr Robert Wihtol
Adjunct Professor, Asian Institute of Management, Philippines

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About the Book:

The book (edited by Masahiro Kawai, Peter Morgan, and Pradumna B. Rana) had argued that the global economic architecture (GEA) established at the historic 1944 Bretton Woods Conference (comprising the IMF, GATT/WTO, and the World Bank) had worked well for several decades. But more recently, for various reasons, this centralized architecture had come under increasing strain and we were witnessing a move towards a more decentralized and fragmented architecture where regional and national institutions were being established in various regions of the world.

The objectives of the book were to (i) review key issues in reforming the GEA including the roles of the oversight bodies such as the G 20; (ii) identify evolving trends in the GEA; and (iii) develop ideas and principles to ensure that national and regional efforts complement global institutions and not try to supplant them.

Against this background, this Seminar focuses on future developments in the GEA (i) whether reform of present institutions, in the areas of financing and decision-making, can make room for an expanded role of the dynamic emerging economies such as China and the BRICS (ii) whether recent trends towards a fragmented and decentralized GEA will continue (iii) whether the new institutions established by the dynamic emerging economies will pose a threat to global institutions and will they have the potential to substitute for them (iv) how global and regional institutions can cooperate, among others, in the areas of policy, institutional, and finance (v) more specifically, how Asian regional institutions (such as the RCEP, CMIM/AMRO, AIIB/NDB) might cooperate with their global counterparts (such as the WTO, IMF, the World Bank, and the Financial Stability Board), and (vi) what role Asia should play in designing the evolving decentralized architecture.

This event is co-organised by the Centre of Multilateralism Studies (CMS) at RSIS, and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).