Events and Seminars



RCI-POD
WEBINAR

Regional Cooperation and Integration Policy Open Dialogue (RCI-POD) Webinar Series
Co-organized by the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division and RCI Thematic Group, the webinar series aims to provide a venue for casual and open policy dialogue on RCI issues.



Asian Impact: ADB research in action

Asian Impact is a webinar series that showcases ADB’s research work and informs debate on critical policy issues in Asia. ADB experts, noted academics, frontline policy makers, and others will provide their insights through engaging panel discussions and stimulating research seminars. Join us for an evidence-based exploration of Asia’s continuing economic transformation and the risks that the region faces.

Launch of the Asian Economic Integration Report 2024

Decarbonizing Global Value Chains
26 February 2024

The Asian Economic Integration Report 2024 analyzes how regional economies in Asia and the Pacific respond to economic and geopolitical challenges by deepening economic inter-relationships. The theme chapter delves into the carbon emissions generated at various stages of global value chains and emphasizes the need for policymakers to address this environmental challenge while maximizing the economic advantages of globalization and global production networks. The report will be launched at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore on 26 February 2024.

Official Launch of the Asian Economic Integration Report 2023

Trade, Investment, and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific
07 February 2023

The Asian Economic Integration Report (AEIR) reviews Asia and the Pacific’s progress on regional cooperation and integration and the states of trade, cross-border investment, financial integration, and the movement of people. According to the 2023 report, integration in the region is progressing steadily and remained stable in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s theme chapter, “Trade, Investment, and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific”, examines how trade and investment, which have been the main driver of the region’s economic growth and industrialization, contribute to climate change, and what policy measures need to be taken to make trade and investment part of climate solutions.

28 November 2022

Rapid digitalization amid the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the growth of digital services trade around the globe. At the forefront is the Asia and Pacific region, demonstrating the highest growth in digital services trade. This book attempts to provide analysis on the opportunities, challenges, and risks associated with trade in digital services that could help inform policy makers in undertaking necessary domestic reforms and pursuing international cooperation.

28 October 2022

The conference brought together government officials from ADB developing member countries (DMCs), representatives from international organizations, research institutes, and business community, and ADB officers and IPAF members to share insights and exchange views on Asia’s financial challenges associated with increased debt levels. The region’s economic outlook is still clouded by the ongoing geopolitical tensions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the persisting threat from the COVID-19. These threats may continue to jeopardize the region’s financial stability.

1 September 2022

There are different proofs of origin in the Asian region under the CPTPP, the ASEAN 1+ FTAs, the FTAs that some Asian countries have entered with EU and the US, the initiatives under APEC and most recently the ASEAN on electronic certificate of origin, and the RCEP. The drafting complexity of the RCEP’s Article 3.16 on proof of origin with different systems of proof of origin and timetables is revealing of the various schools of thought in this area. This APTFF side event highlights that progress on proof of origin is a concrete trade facilitating measure and will showcase ADB’s work in the area of market access and rules of origin, highlighting the need to identify convergence and best practices in order to undertake the necessary reforms towards a more trade facilitating rules of origin administration in Asia and the Pacific.

29 August 2022

The 10th Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum focused on how trade facilitation should evolve to enhance the resilience of international supply chainsin times of pandemic and to better support sustainable economic recovery and development in the Asia-Pacific region. In this regard, the Forum explored how trade digitalization and emerging technologies can be used to ensure that new generation trade facilitation measures are inclusive and sustainable, enabling effective participation of SMEs and less developed economies in international trade.

27 July 2022

The Aid for Trade Global Review 2022, which will take place from 27 to 29 July both in-person and virtually, will discuss the role of Aid for Trade in supporting women’s economic empowerment, digital connectivity, and how environmentally sustainable development can contribute to the desired development outcomes. ADB, in coordination with the World Trade Organization, is organizing two virtual sessions.

20 July 2022

Trade and investment play an outsized role in the economic development story in the region, but it has come with environmental costs. Asia and the Pacific is in the frontline of climate change and is responsible for over 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The theme chapter of the Asian Economic Integration Report 2023, to which the background papers to be presented in this virtual conference will contribute to, seeks to better understand how trade and investment contribute to climate change, and what can be done to mitigate it.

3 May 2022

The Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department (ERCD) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will share the main findings of its report “The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP): A New Paradigm in Asian Regional Cooperation” and exchange views with senior government officials from RCEP member countries on the way forward in RCEP implementation. Over 2 half-days of focused sessions, the conference will bring in government officials from RCEP member countries, representatives from international organizations, research institutes, and business community to share and deliberate on issues of interest in the RCEP agreement. Sessions mix of presentation and panel discussions will aim at identifying key areas where further inter-governmental work is needed for a successful RCEP implementation. These will serve as main basis for further research, dissemination, and capacity building activities to support ADB developing members in the negotiations and development of the RCEP built-in agenda.

21 April 2022

Another year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Economic Integration Report 2022 describes an Asia and Pacific region that has more experience in tackling pandemic hardships, better data showing positive integration trends, and greater confidence in cooperation to address shared concerns. The report also features a theme chapter “Advancing Digital Services Trade in Asia and the Pacific“, which discusses various ways for Asian economies to capitalize on the rapid digitalization and growing digital services trade through structural reforms and international cooperation. This webinar presented the main results of the report and brought together leading experts to focus on how policy measures in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Asia and Pacific economies steer digital services trade. The webinar also discussed the role of regional cooperation and structural reforms to help the economies unlock this potential.

2 March 2022

This inception workshop for the Asian Economic Integration Report 2023 theme chapter will gather international and ADB experts to exchange views, experiences, and perspectives on how trade and investment contribute to climate change and what can be done to mitigate it. The workshop will also examine how finance can support trade and investment in reducing its impact on climate change.

13 December 2021

this webinar highlighted the key findings from the edited volume prepared by the Asian Development Bank and the European Central Bank. The discussion distilled the main insights on the implications of an increase in NPLs as well as the available policy options. The lessons outlined draw from empirical analyses as well as on country and regional case studies. Among the learnings highlighted is the necessity of fostering an ecosystem conducive to NPL market development and resolution, including addressing data asymmetries, improving financial market infrastructure, and enhancing legal frameworks and judicial capacities.