The WINPEC Seminar will be held as follows. Please join us!
＜Seminar Outline＞
Date and time: Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 17:00-18:40
Venue: Room 801, Building 3, Waseda Campus
Format: Face-to-face only
Language: English * Q&A session in Japanese is also acceptable
＜Theme＞Asia’s Structural Transformation: The Past and Prospects
＜Abstract＞
The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook (REO) report provides comprehensive insights into recent economic developments and future prospects specifically for countries in the region. It analyzes the impact of economic policy changes on performance, highlighting key challenges faced by policymakers in navigating complex economic landscapes.
The October 2024 Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific features Asia’s Structural Transformation. The Asia-Pacific region has made rapid growth and development gains over the last three decades. A key contribution has come from structural transformation: workers leaving agriculture to work in more productive sectors. While historically, reallocation towards manufacturing has been a characteristic of Asia, services have played a larger role in the last three decades—both for generating employment and for boosting growth. Services will become more prominent still with rising incomes. However, ensuring a shift towards more productive services will require investment in education and training to supply needed skills, including to help workers adapt to the wave of new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence. Opening economies up to competition and trade in services is also critical. Population aging is bound to act as a drag on growth; boosting productivity and labor market participation will be needed to mitigate its impact.
＜Lecturer information＞
Anne Oeking is an Advisor to the Director at the International Monetary Fund’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, based in Tokyo. Previously, she worked in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, the IMF’s Finance Department, and spent two years at the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office in Singapore. Ms. Oeking holds a PhD in economics from the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics, Germany. Her research focuses on international macroeconomics, international trade and finance, and labor markets.
Chikako Baba is a Senior Economist in Regional Studies Division of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department. Previously, she worked in European Department, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, and African Department. Her recent analytical topics include inflation, wage growth, and geoeconomic fragmentation. She also contributed to policy papers in the area of capital flow management, macroprudential and monetary policies. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
