RIS/ADB Seminar on Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia 

RIS has developed some proposals for broader schemes of regional economic integration, including monetary and financial cooperation, to be implemented in a phased manner, with Japan, ASEAN, China, India and Korea (JACIK) providing the core in the first phase. These proposals were earlier debated at the International Conference on Building a New Asia organized by RIS in March 2003. 

As a part of follow-up activities to carry forward its work on different aspects of economic cooperation in RIS, jointly with Asian Development Bank, New Delhi, organized a Seminar on Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia in New Delhi on December 11, 2003. Shri Shripad Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, Government of India delivered the inaugural speech. Ambassador S.T. Devare, Vice-Chairman, RIS; Mr Louis De Jonghe, Country Director, ADB; and Dr Nagesh Kumar, Director-General, RIS also addressed the inaugural session. In his inaugural address Shri Naik said that the issues of regional importance in the global context, merit serious thought and collective action. The Asian community now needs to focus on the economic cooperation front which can tilt the balance of power in our favour.

The first business session on Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia, chaired by Ambassador S T Devare, had three presentations: Economic Integration and Re-emergence of Asia (with focus on Monetary and Financial Cooperation) by Dr Pradumna B. Rana, Director, Regional Economic Monitoring Unit, ADB, Manila; Financial and Monetary Cooperation in Asia: Problems and Prospects by Dr Mihir Rakshit, Project Director, ICRA; and Towards an Asian Economic Community by Dr Nagesh Kumar.

Dr Ashok Lahiri, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India chaired the second session on Global and Regional Economic Outlook. This session had two presentations: Asian Economic Monitor by Dr Srinivasa Madhur, Principal Economist, ADB/REMU; and India’s Long-run Growth Performance by Dr Sudipto Mundle, Chief Economist, ADB/INRM. Dr Suman Berry, Director-General, NCEAR and Dr Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, Director, IDF were the main Discusstants. The participants, among others, included representatives from business and industry circles, research institutes, academia, government departments, and media.