In the full ADB Insight episode, a curtain raiser to the 2024 ADB Annual Meeting held on Friday ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso, and Georgia Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili shared their insights on what it will take to build a sustainable, inclusive future.
Moderated by international journalist Nisha Pillai, the panel discussion focused on the economic landscape, regional cooperation, and how multilateral development banks and countries can collaborate more effectively despite the uncertainties and risks posed by climate change, deglobalization, and geopolitical tensions.
Participating in the panel discussion ADB President Asakawa opined that the economies of the so-called developing Asia were estimated to have a growth at 5% in 2023. This growth momentum is expected to be sustained at around 4.9% this year and next year. On the other hand, inflation has been contained well and the inflation rate itself dropped from 4.4% in 2022 to 3.3% in 2023.
This robust growth comes from a couple of factors, he said. Firstly, due to a relatively strong domestic demand, recovery of export performance due to the favourable semiconductor cycle strong remittance inflows to the region and recovery of tourism as more were coming and the recovery of the Chinese economy. He said there were four challenges, the ongoing geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and others, the possibility of very unstable global financial markets due to the monetary policy orientation in advanced economies, especially in the US and the food security issue.
Asakawa said while the food price in general has been declining since its peak in 2022, the rice price has been rising.
“I was shocked to know that the rice price soared more than 40% last year which substantially eroded the purchasing power of poor families in our region. To deal with this food security issue, ADB announced 2 years ago a USD14 billion comprehensive financial package, mainly investment in the agriculture sector in the region to make it more resilient vis a vis kind of external shocks.”
“The downside risk we are facing is the climate change crisis which is an uncomfortable truth, and the Asia and Pacific region is accountable for more than 60% of CO2 gas emissions. But at the same time, it is also true that this region is one of the most vulnerable regions vis a vis natural disasters. Our fight against climate change will be won or lost in Asia and the Pacific,” he said adding “We should fight against any form of protectionism. We should promote open trade, and free trade, not only bilaterally but also multilaterally. Second, we should deepen cooperation efforts. I do believe that as long as any region is open and transparent it will not compete with globalization. It would complement globalization.”
Khutsishvili said in 2021 and 2022, Georgia had two-digit economic growths, 10.6% in 2021, and 11% in 2022. He said the growth momentum continued last year with a 7.5% growth and that will continue this year.
Fizel Jabir