World Bank holds seminar with keynote speaker James W. Adams, Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Region

October 30, 2008, Tokyo – As financial turmoil has raced across the global landscape in recent months, the implications for the East Asia and Pacific Region are a concern for policy-makers and the development community. In line with the World Bank’s efforts to share the most recent analyses and assessments of the current situation by the Bank, Japan, and other partners, a seminar was held today with keynote speaker Mr. James W. Adams, the World Bank’s Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Region, at the World Bank TDLC (Tokyo Development Learning Center).

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Tokyo University

James W. Adams, VP for East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank, gave the keynote address

 Over 100 attended the seminar, Recent Global Economic Developments – Implications for East Asia, which featured a high-level discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of emerging Asia, along with the responses from development institutions and regional banks and aid agencies. Joining Mr. Adams were Professor Takatoshi Ito of Tokyo University, who spoke on how the current crisis has evolved and how lessons have been learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and also Mr. Masaki Omura, Managing Director, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the international arm of Japan Finance Corporation.

Students from 3 universities in Japan joined the seminar by video link

Over 100 participants registered for the public seminar at World Bank TDLC

 The seminar utilized the facilities and real time video conferencing technology at World Bank TDLC, a hub of the Bank’s Global Development Learning Center, connecting students at Kobe University Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, International University of Japan (Niigata), and Akita International University of Japan. Participants at the seminar, along with the university students, asked probing questions of the panelists about Asian development issues and how the growing financial and credit crisis may affect the region.