Washington Roundtable on the Global Economic Agenda

Post-event Statement

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Background

Sustained economic growth can contribute significantly to poverty reduction. Indeed, countries that have enjoyed economic growth for long periods of time have witnessed marked declines in poverty incidence. But an economic and financial crisis could frustrate such development. Even though economies can recover quickly from the crisis, they may not return to the same growth path as before the crisis, thus delaying further the economic development process. Because a crisis can have long-term developmental implications, ADBI is keen in making a contribution to the understanding of the causes of a crisis and to the formulation of policy measures that ADB's developing member countries (DMCs) could adopt to avoid a crisis.

The current financial crisis and global economic downturn did not originate in Asia, and, indeed, Asian economies in structural terms are generally in good shape. Nonetheless, Asian economies and financial markets have already begun to feel the impacts of the crisis. The most obvious areas of impact have been exports and equity markets, which have declined sharply across the region, but stresses in currency and credit markets have emerged as well, and domestic demand has softened. This sensitivity has been heightened by the export-led growth strategies followed by many countries.

In this environment, it is very important for Asian nations to present their views regarding economic and financial developments and policy in global forums such as the G20 and the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This conference is intended to serve as a forum for dialogue between policymakers and academics before the G20 Leaders' Summit to be held on 24-25 September 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank later in 2009.

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Objectives

In order to enhance engagement and exchanges between leaders from the United States and emerging markets on critical global economic challenges, Brookings, CIGI, and ADBI propose to organize a roundtable (Chatham House Rules) in Washington focused on the global economic agenda in the fall of 2009. This forum will be hosted by Brookings in advance of the United Nation's General Assembly, the next G-20 leaders' summit, and the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The purpose of the forum would be to foster discussion on the broad range of global economic policy issues facing leaders, and broaden understanding of the different perspectives of policymakers and leading international economists on the potential courses for action and national points of view. The main areas to be discussed in the meeting are:

• Global Macroeconomic Policies and Response
• Domestic Financial Regulatory Reform in G20 Countries: Is the Pace Sufficient?
• The IMF: Resources, Role and Longer-term Perspective
• The G8, the G20, the UN, and the Bretton Woods Institutions: Formal and Informal Governance

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Outputs

Written report of the conference.

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Partners

Brookings Institution
Inter-American Development Bank