Europe has long been held up as the yardstick for integration and cooperation in Asia as the region has built closer ties in trade, financial markets and even on the environment.
But with the Eurozone now teetering on the brink of a collapse that few anticipated in the decades running up to the euro’s introduction in 1999, what lessons can Asia draw? Should Asia strive for closer integration, setting up new institutions and working toward a single currency, or is the threat of contagion just too high? Or should the priority be to strengthen emergency funds and institutions to stave off further fallout from the Eurozone crisis?
Two leading ADB experts on integration and cooperation — Iwan J. Azis and Lei Lei Song — will be online to answer questions in a live online chat.
► The chat room is open from 2:00PM to 4:00PM.
Iwan J. Azis
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Head of ADB’s Office of Regional Economic Integration since 2010, specializes in macro-financial economics and regional economic modeling and institutions. He is backed by over 33 years of professional experience as an economist and academic, has conducted research and consulting work for international organizations, governments, and universities, and has published books and articles on development issues. He is currently on leave from Cornell University, US where he has taught since the 1990s.
Lei Lei Song
focuses on regional economic and financial monitoring in the Office of Regional Economic Integration as a principal economist. He has over 15 years of experience in research specializing in applied macroeconomics including macroeconomic modeling, unemployment, and inflation, and international economics. Prior to joining ADB, he spent 6 years with the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research as a Research Fellow.
