ADB meet tackles Asia's transformation

MANILA, Philippines - An exchange of ideas on the next stage of Asia’s economic transformation will take place today as Manila 2012 or the Philippine hosting of the Asian Development Bank’s 45th Annual Meeting enters its second day of the four-day event that has drawn over 4,300 participants.

The first in the day’s series of discussions, the Governor’s Seminar, dubbed “How Can Asia Respond to Global Economic Crisis and Transformation?” will focus on the impact of any potential economic slowdown and rebalancing on poverty, inequality, employment, and the environment. It will examine policy options that involve trade and regional financial safety nets and lead to sustainable, inclusive growth and development.

The high-level seminar will gather ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda, Japan Finance Minister Jun Azumi, Parliamentary State Secretary Gudrun Kopp for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, and China’s Vice Minister of Finance Li Yong.       

Also on the day’s calendar is a forum “Asian Financing for Asian Growth: The Rise of Intra-regional Capital Flows,” which seeks to discuss global imbalances that could hamper sustainable growth. The panelists for this seminar are Ayala Corp. chairman and chief executive Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, AIA Group chief investment officer John Chu, ANZ chief economist Paul Gruenwald, and ADB chief economist Changyong Rhee. The seminar is sponsored by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

The topic, “Asia’s Capital Market Development - Opportunities and Challenges” is featured in a separate seminar sponsored by Goldman Sachs. The seminar will focus on the importance of deep, efficient and liquid capital markets as funding solutions for this growth, and assess the impact of the global financial regulatory reform agenda on Asian capital market development.

Speaking on the topic are Goldman Sachs asset management (Asia Pacific) head Oliver Bolitho, Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific chief economist Michael Buchanan, Moody’s Investors Service Asia Pacific regional head Jennifer Elliot, Goldman Sachs Southeast Asia chairman Brooks Entwistle, Prudential Corp. Asia chairman Donald Kanak, Bank for International Settlements chief representative for Asia and the Pacific Eli Remolona, Philippine Stock Exchange president Hans Sicat, and Philippine treasurer Roberto Tan.

Completing Thursday’s series of seminars are discussions on ADB’s reform initiatives and scorecard, climate change, and financial inclusion in the developing world by 2020.

All seminars are to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center.