AMRO Director Dr Junhong Chang (second from the right) delivers a presentation at the Tokyo Fiscal Forum on June 5, 2017.

TOKYO, JAPAN, June 5, 2017 – Speaking at the Tokyo Fiscal Forum 2017, AMRO Director Dr. Junhong Chang highlighted the rising challenges in the Asian region and policy recommendations to cope with those challenges. With the theme of “Fiscal Policy under Demographic Change and Radical Uncertainties”, the event was co-hosted by the Policy Research Institute of Ministry of Finance of Japan, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank Institute.

In her presentation, Dr. Chang made a comparison between the two major crises that hit the region in the past two decades—the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial Crisis, highlighting the differences in policy responses and some remaining challenges. In particular, Dr. Chang shared the successful experiences of some economies in the region in coping with emerging risks, and provided some suggestions on how to improve policy rooms. She also raised several relevant policy challenges to the region, and emphasized the need for a broader and more comprehensive approach in policy design.