A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t B a n k I n s t i t u t e

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ADBI News 2009 Volume 3 Number 2

ADBI Global Financial Crisis CONFERENCES

Conference Series

Participants at ADBIs Global Financial Crisis: Macroeconomic Policy Issues conference in July. The global financial crisis
conference series seeks to provide policymakers, academics, and others with an overview of the ongoing impacts of the crisis.

ADBI has organized a series of conferences Second, because export markets in the US and
related to the impacts of the global financial crisis Europe are unlikely to provide the same growth
on Asian economies aimed at providing potential for Asian economies as they have done
policymakers, academics, and opinion-makers previously, Asian economies need to take steps to
with a comprehensive overview of this topic, encourage a rebalancing of growth toward
including expected economic, financial, social, domestic and regional demand. The potential for
and environmental impacts. The conference series such growth can be realized by: (i) supporting
further provides policy analyses and recom-
mendations, both for short-term stabilization and
for achievement of sustainable and inclusive In this issue
longer-term growth.
The global financial crisis has three broad
areas of implications for Asian economies and
markets that have been analyzed extensively in
these conferences. First, financial system
regulation and surveillance must be strengthened
to minimize the impacts of the current crisis and to
insulate Asian economies from future shocks, both
internal or external. This includes implementation
of regional surveillance and development of
macro-prudential frameworks for financial
supervision and regulation. Along with this,
macroeconomic policy frameworks need to be
strengthened.

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 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t
infrastructure investment; (ii) deepening the
capacity of the regional financial systems to
recycle savings within the region to finance
investment; (iii) liberalizing trade in goods,
services, and investment; (iv) promoting new
growth areas such as services and green industries;
(v) encouraging consumption by strengthening
social protection and education; and (vi) promoting
regional policy coordination.
Third, the global financial crisis is likely to lead
to a revamping of the international financial
architecture, including Bretton Woods institutions
such as the International Monetary Fund, and to
expanded surveillance of international capital
flows and financial institutions. It is important to
analyze how national and regional institutions in
Asia should respond to such changes. In particular,
there may be expanded roles for an Asian Financial
Labor Market in the PRC and
its Adjustment to the Global Financial Crisis
Fang Cai, a professor and director of the Institute
of Population and Labor Economics at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, presented a
paper on Industrial and Labor Relocations
among Chinese Regions at the conference on
Labor Market in the Peoples Republic of
China (PRC) and its Adjustment to Global
Financial Crisis on 1819 June in Tokyo. Mr. Cai
noted that when the global financial crisis hit the
economy of the PRC, a large number of migrant
workers returned from the coastal regions to their
homes in rural areas, and the engine of economic
growth shifted from the east to the central and
west regions. However, Cai and his colleagues
found that the current changes in the regional
pattern of industrial growth are mainly due to the
central governments policy implementations,
which favored investment in the central and
western regions. Cai suggested that government
intervention should be more comparative
advantage-following, which would facilitate a
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B a n k I n s t i t u t e
Stability Dialogue and the multi-lateralized Chiang
Mai Initiative.
In 2009, nine conferences related to the global
financial cricis have been held in Tokyo,
including Strengthening Payment Systems in Asia
(10 February); Impacts, Lessons and Growth
Rebalancing (2223 April); Impacts on SMEs
and Trade Finance in Asia and Policy Challenges
(20 May); Labor Market in the PRC and its
Adjustment to Global Financial Crisis (1819 June);
Credit Rating Agencies (12 July); Crisis
developments in Asia and Europe (78 July);
Regional Cooperation and Architecture Policy
Issues (16 July); Financial Sector Reform and
Regulation (2123 July); and Macroeconomic
Policy Issues (2829 July).
See more details about this conference series at
www.adbi.org/research.global.financial.crisis/.
CONFERENCE
Current changes in the regional pattern of industrial growth
are mainly due to the PRCs policy implementations.
domestic flying-geese pattern to make industrial
relocation beneficial to all regions.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/conf-seminar-papers/2009/07/17/3214.
industrial.labor.relocations.chinese/.
 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t
Finance to the People
Over eighty policymakers and experts attended the
workshop on Promoting Financial Inclusion
through Innovative Policies on 31 March3 April
in Tokyo. The event was organized by ADBI,
Advisory Group on APEC Financial System
Capacity-Building, APEC Business Advisory
Council, and Alliance for Financial Inclusion.
Participants discussed approaches and exchanged
country experiences in six key areas: (i) agent
banking, where innovative policies and regulations
can facilitate partnerships with non-bank agents like
post offices so financial services can reach unbanked
customers at lower costs; (ii) mobile banking, where
financial transactions, such as deposit-taking,
withdrawal, and payment, can be offered through
mobile technologies and services; (iii) diversification
of providers, where regulatory reform can lower
barriers for start-up institutions developing financial
products for low-income clients; (iv) reform of
public banks, with case studies on Union Bank of
The Euro After 10 Years
The euro is not a magical solution for all problems.
Klaus Regling, the European Union fellow at the
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in
Singapore, returned to ADBI on 15 June to speak
on The Euro After 10 Years: Achievements,
Challenges, and Implications for Asia.
According to Regling, the first decade of the
euro was a big success, surprising even skeptics.
But expectations that the euro would solve all of
Europes problems were unrealistic. Problems
associated with the euro system that have been
B a n k I n s t i t u t e
WORKSHOP
More than 80 policymakers and experts gathered to discuss
issues on microfinance, including the fact that 60% of
households in Asia lack access to formal financial services.
India and Khan Bank of Mongolia; (v) financial
identification, where the lack of financial identity
constraints to the poors access to formal financial
services; and (vi) consumer protection, focusing on
areas such as education, transparency, disclosure,
and fair recovery practices.
See more details about the workshop at www.adbi.org/event/
2878.financial.inclusion.innovative.policies/?sectionID=35.
LECTURE
building up for some time are now more visible in
light of the global economic crisis.
This has led some to speculate that the
eurozone might break up, with some current
member countries choosing to stop using the
common currency. However, Regling believes that
there will be no breakup. Countries with
adjustment problems would be worse off outside
the euro area than inside. Indeed, more countries
now want to join the euro area.
What are the lessons for Asia from the euro
experience? While there are big differences
between the economic and regional integration
situations in Asia and Europe, their respective
objectives for regional integration are the
samenamely, peace, growth, jobs, crisis manage-
ment, and shaping globalization. Mr. Regling
encouraged Asia to continue with its process of
regional integration because the benefits could be
significant. However, as is the case with Europe,
deeper Asian regional integration requires political
will and independent institutions.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2964.euro.after.10.years.adbi.asef/.
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 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t
The Current Global Economic and
Financial Crisis
Michael D. Intriligator, professor of economics,
political science, and public policy at the
University of California at Los Angeles and senior
fellow at the Milken Institute, delivered a lecture
on The Current Worldwide Financial and
Economic Crisis at a distinguished speaker
seminar on 25 March in Tokyo. For Mr.
Intriligator, the current crisis was caused by a
convergence of several factors, notably, the 1999
deregulation of the financial markets and the US
Federal Reserve Banks low interest-rate policy
under its former chairman, Alan Greenspan. He
added that unless lending resumes, US President
Barack Obamas economic stimulus plan will be
insufficient to stop the downward economic spiral.
Mr. Intriligator recommends a host of policies to
hasten economic recovery, two of which were
inspired by historic American programsnamely,
the Marshall Plan, a revamping of which would
send aid to vulnerable, crisis-hit countries, and the
Manhattan Project, whose updated version would
gather the worlds top economics and finance
Reforming International
Economic Institutions
Peter A. Petri, Carl J. Shapiro professor of
International Finance at the Brandeis International
Business School in Massachusetts and a senior
fellow of the East-West Center in Hawaii, delivered
a lecture on International Economic Governance:
Problems and Solutions at a distinguished speaker
seminar on 10 April in Tokyo.
The challenge in reforming IEIs is to ensure that regional
initiatives are aligned with global objectives.
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B a n k I n s t i t u t e
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER
The worlds top experts should together develop approaches
that would effectively deal with the current crisis.
experts and develop approaches that would
effectively deal with the current world financial
crisis.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2896.intriligator.distinguished.speaker.
financial.economic.crisis/.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER
Mr. Petris discussion on reforming international
economic institutions (IEIs) explored the built-in
structural limitations of existing IEIs that hinder
the institutions effectiveness, helping to shed light
on the difficulty of reforming them. For Mr. Petri,
IEIs face a governance trilemmathat is, the
improbability of achieving universal, democratic,
and decisive institutions simultaneously. One
solution proposed under the club theory framework
is decentralized decision making, which would
allow subgroups within an institution to craft
policies to which not all members may subscribe.
To address the issue of finding a balance between
flexibility of global IEIs and coherence among
sub-global IEIs, international resources should co-
fund regional initiatives so as to align these with
the global objectives of larger IEIs.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2933.petri.distinguished.speaker.
governing.global.economy/.
 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t
Short-Term Anti-Crisis Policy and
Long-Term Growth of China
Fan Gang, director of the National Economic
Research Institute in Beijing and chair of the
China Reform Foundation, delivered a lecture on
Short-Term Anti-Crisis Policy and Long-Term
Growth of China at a distinguished speaker
seminar on 24 April in Tokyo.
Mr. Fan addressed key questions surrounding
the current recession in the PRC, particularly on
how the country can get through the current
crisis in the short-run as well as longer-term
macroeconomic policy responses. Mr. Fan is
confident of the PRCs long-run sustainable
economic growth owing to improvements in total
factor productivity (TFP) and input growth. He
attributed the high TFP contribution to the PRCs
overall growth rate to several factors including
market-oriented reforms, the spillover effects of
foreign direct investment, and more research
and development spending, whose benefits are
expected to further spread throughout the economic
system. However, structural impediments such
The Determinants of
US Exports to China
Barry Bosworth, senior fellow in the Economic
Studies Program and Robert V. Roosa chair
in international economics at The Brookings
Institution, delivered a lecture on The Determinants
Analysis results show that physical distance is the main
factor in the US poor export performance to the PRC.
B a n k I n s t i t u t e
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER
Structural impediments need to be addressed to facilitate
the PRCs crisis recovery.
as a national high savings rate must be addressed
in order to hasten the PRCs recovery from the
crisis.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2937.gang.bosworth.distinguished.
speaker.closely.related.topics/.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER
of US Exports to China (the Peoples Republic of
China [PRC]) at a distinguished speaker seminar on
24 April in Tokyo.
Mr. Bosworth explored three factors(i)
composition of US exports, (ii) the role of
American multinational corporations, and (iii) the
great physical distance between the PRC and the
USbehind the low level of US exports to the
PRC. Results of his analysis showed that only
distance appeared to play a significant role in the
US poor export performance to the PRC. He
argued that this low showing is not particular to the
PRC as the US has had trade deficits with nearly
every country in the world. He added that
uncompetitive real exchange rates may have
something to do with the US-PRC export
imbalance.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2937.gang.bosworth.distinguished.
speaker.closely.related.topics/.
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 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t
Era of Electronic Tax Systems
Opened officially on behalf of ADBI by ADBs
Viet Nam Resident Mission country director,
Ayumi Konishi, the three-day Tax Administration
Seminar VI entitled Taxpayer Services Focusing
on E-Filing and Payment was held 2325 June in
Hanoi. The event was presented in cooperation
with Japans National Tax Agency and the
Vietnamese General Department of Taxation.
Twenty four tax policymakers and administrators
as well as thirteen observers, from eight Southeast
Asian tax administrations actively participated in
the seminar.
Based on several Asian models on e-filing and
payment systems that were presented at this
Participants and speakers at the Tax Administration Seminar VI: Taxpayer Services Focusing on E-Filing and Payment.
The PRC-Japan-US: Deeper Integration
A workshop entitled The PRC, Japan and the
United States: Deeper Integration was
successfully held on 2829 May in Tokyo. The
event was co-organized by ADBI, Hawaiis East-
West Center, Brandeis University, and Nihon
University. The conference addressed the nature of
the existing structural linkages among the three
countries and introduced measures for supporting
deeper integration.
The event was divided into four sessions.
Sessions 1, 2, and 4 discussed key findings of
research papers on trade and foreign direct
investment linkages, East Asian regional
integration, and policy measures for the current
global financial crisis. Session 3 was a high-level
panel that discussed the prospects for cooperation
among the three countries, focusing on the impact
of the current crisis on Asia, changes in
international architecture such as the IMF, and
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B a n k I n s t i t u t e
SEMINAR
seminar, participants discussed and explored ways
to establish an effective e-filing and payment
system, including financial and human resource
requirements. Such a system is expected to bring
about a set of benefits to both taxpayers and tax
administrations. These benefits include saving time
as well as increasing cost effectiveness, accuracy,
convenience, productivity, and safety. This seminar
program, started in 2004, addresses major opera-
tional taxation issues and has been hosted in
rotation among Southeast Asian tax adminis-
trations since its inception.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2935.tax.administration.seminar.vi/.
WORKSHOP
Cooperation among the PRC, Japan, and the US is important
for deeper regional integration of East Asia as a whole.
related political issues (e.g., between the PRC and
Japan). The discussion concluded that the need for
cooperation among the PRC, Japan, and the US is
important not only for the three countries but for
the deeper regional integration of East Asia as a
whole. As the PRC and Japan are the two largest
economies in the region, they may be able to take
the lead in East Asia regional integration.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at www.adbi.org/
event/2945.prc.japan.usa.deeper.integration.workshop/.
 A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t B a n k I n s t i t u t e

Knowledge Sharing on CONFERENCE

Infrastructure PPPs in Asia

The Knowledge Sharing on Infrastructure
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Asia
Conference held 1921 May in Seoul, brought
together more than 80 PPP specialists and
practitioners from 23 countries across the Asia and
Pacific region. The three-day conference was
hosted by the Korea Development Institute and the
government of Korea, and was organized in
coordination with ADBs Regional and Sustainable
Development Department with the collaborative
support of the World Bank Institute (WBI).
The conference profiled an in-depth assessment
of the Korean PPP experience and contrasted
Koreas PPP policies and sector approaches with
practices from Australia, Chile, India, and the
UK. It examined how different countries have
approached PPPs in the transport, urban, and social
sectors. The comparative country and sector PPP
case studies were prepared as part of a global
comparison of PPP approaches that is being
undertaken under the Multilateral PPP for Infra-
structure Capacity Building Initiative (MP3IC) that
ADBI is implementing with WBI and the Inter-
American Development Bank-Multilateral
Investment Fund (IADB-MIF). The global com-
parison of PPP approaches generated a great deal
of discussion and interest among the delegates,
with appreciation of the variation in approaches
that have evolved to address specific PPP
challenges faced in each of the diverse countries.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2965.korea.ppp/.

This conference examined how different countries have approached PPPs in the transport, urban, and social sectors.

Selected Upcoming Events

Conference on Global Financial Crisis: Social Impacts (Hanoi)

This conference will review evidence and analysis of the crisis social impacts on Asian countries (e.g.,
2829
need for social insurance, effectiveness of existing policies [i.e., conditional cash transfers], and
September education), with the aim of establishing a reference basis for subsequent conferences dealing with
appropriate policy responses in the region.
Conference on Global Financial Crisis: Environmental Impacts (Hanoi)
2930
This conference will review evidence and analysis of the environmental impacts of the crisis and potential
September industrial restructuring on Asian countries by developing appropriate policy responses in the region.

Developing Asia Journalism Training and Awards (Tokyo)

This event includes a four-day training course and an awards ceremony for 20 finalist journalists from
2023
ADBs developing member countries. This events objectives are to: (i) develop journalists skills by
October
equipping them with current knowledge on key economic and development issues; and, (ii) to enable and
encourage them to actively promote public awareness through informative and responsible journalism.
Global Financial Crisis and its Implications for Asia (Washington, DC)
13 This conference will revisit evidence and analysis of the impacts of the global financial and economic
November crisis on Asian countries, with the aim of setting up a reference basis for subsequent conferences dealing
with appropriate policy responses in the region.
View all upcoming events at www.adbi.org/calendarofevents.

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NARBO Training on Integrated
Water Resources Management
IWRM training participants visit the Cham Island Visitor Center to see the islands conversation project outline.
The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations
(NARBO) secretariat conducted its 5th Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM)
Training in Hoi An, Viet Nam, in February with
support of the host organization, the Vu Gia-Thu
Bon River Basin Organization. Twenty four
participants from six countries participated in this
training which focused on the concept and
implementation of IWRM.
Based on the recommendations from experts of
NARBO member organizations, the training
program discussed the IWRM Guidelines, which
were officially launched at the 5th World Water
ADBI News
Publisher: Takashi Kihara
ADBI News reports quarterly on the activities of the Asian
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go to www.adbi.org/newsletter/.
B a n k I n s t i t u t e
WORKSHOP
Forum in Turkey in March of this year. The
guidelines include examples of many successful
IWRM projects from all over the world and several
keys for success were identified. The program also
included case studies of the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River
Basin itself.
ADBI is leading NARBOs IWRM training and
planning program for the next IWRM Training
event, which will be held in Naovember in Hoi An,
Viet Nam.
Read a more detailed summary of this event at
www.adbi.org/event/2822.narbo.5th.workshop/.
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