Launch of the ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook 2017

Location: Atlantic Room, 3rd Floor, InterContinental Yokohama Grand, Japan

The ASEAN+3 region has remained resilient going into 2017. At the same time, the region and the world faces significant global policy uncertainty due to the threat of rising trade protectionism and tightening global monetary conditions. The year 2017 also marks 20 years after the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). In the past two decades, ASEAN+3 economies have built up buffers and strengthened macroeconomic management and policies to weather the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and to benefit from rising regional integration.

The inaugural edition of the ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO) 2017 produced by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) discusses the regional economic prospects for 10 ASEAN countries, and China (including Hong Kong), Japan, and Korea, and a thematic study on 20 years after the AFC.

What are the risks and challenges that the region faces? How should the region weather external shocks to sustain its growth momentum? What are lessons learned from the AFC and the GFC as well as policy recommendations to support continued resilience and growth?

These questions, and more, will be discussed by AMRO Chief Economist Dr Hoe Ee Khor, Lead Specialist Ms Chuin Hwei Ng, and Lead Economist Jae Young Lee at the AREO 2017 launching.

As the launch is set to be held on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting 2017, media registration with the ADB Annual Meeting organizers is required.

Program

Time
Program

10:00 – 10:05:

Introduction

10:05 – 10:20:

Presentation on the ASEAN+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO) 2017 by AMRO Chief Economist Dr Hoe Ee Khor

10:20 – 10:45:

Q&A with AMRO Chief Economist Dr Hoe Ee Khor and AMRO Lead Specialist and AREO 2017 Lead author Ms. Chuin Hwei Ng

Speakers

Dr. Hoe Ee Khor

Dr. Khor is the Chief Economist of AMRO responsible for overseeing and developing the work on macroeconomic and financial market surveillance on East Asia and on the member economies in the region. He is also a member of the senior management team responsible for setting the strategic direction and management of AMRO. Prior to joining AMRO, Dr. Khor was a Deputy Director of the Asia and Pacific Department (APD) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), responsible for overseeing the surveillance work on six ASEAN and twelve Pacific Island countries. Dr. Khor started his career as an economist at the IMF in 1981 and had worked on a wide range of economies in the Western Hemisphere and Asia and Pacific departments. He was the IMF Deputy Resident Representative in China from 1991-1993. From 2009-2010, Dr. Khor was Head of Economic Development and Chief Economist at the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED). Dr. Khor joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in July 1996 and was Assistant Managing Director from 2001 to 2009 where he was responsible for economic research, monetary policy, macro-financial surveillance, and international relations. Dr. Khor obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics/ Mathematics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.

Ms. Chuin Hwei Ng

Ms. Chuin Hwei Ng heads the Regional team in the Surveillance Group, responsible for regional financial and macroeconomic surveillance of ASEAN+3 economies including developing AMRO’s annual regional surveillance publication. The team also supports AMRO’s country desk economists in financial surveillance of ASEAN+3 economies. Prior to joining AMRO in 2014, Ms. Ng served in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in diverse central banking functions for 20 years. Her last position with MAS was Director in the Prudential Policy Department, responsible for banking regulatory policy including prudential limits, policies on housing and unsecured credit, and deposit insurance. She also served as a bank supervisor leading a team supervising foreign banks in Singapore from 2004 to 2008 and in international relations handling ASEAN and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues from 2001 to 2003, and as an economist conducting surveillance on China and ASEAN from 1994 to 1999. Ms. Ng holds a B.A. (summa cum laude) in Economics from Yale University, and a Master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in the USA.

Dr. Jae Young Lee

Dr. Jae Young Lee is Group Head and Lead Economist at the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), responsible for leading a group of economists to undertake macroeconomic and financial market surveillance on major member economies in the ASEAN+3 Region, with the focus on Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan. Before joining AMRO, Dr. Lee was with Korea’s Finance Ministry for more than 20 years. Since joining the Ministry in 1991, he had held various positions, especially in the fields of international finance, economic policy, fiscal policy, financial policy and international cooperation, which helped him build extensive professional expertise in these areas. In 2011, he was appointed to be Director of the Foreign Exchange Market Division and was in charge of exchange rate and foreign exchange reserves. Before that, he was the Director of Financial Cooperation Division since 2010, making valuable contributions to strengthening regional financial cooperation among the ASEAN+3 countries. During that time, Dr. Lee played an important role in establishing the AMRO and its early settlement. Dr Lee has also held several important positions at the finance ministry, including Director of Cultural Budget Division (2009-2010), Director of Foreign Exchange Policy Division (2008), Director of Welfare Economic Policy Division (2007-2008), and Director of Financial Hub Cooperation Division (2006-2007). He also served as Assistant Secretary to the President of Korea for Policy Monitoring and Surveillance (2005-2006). Dr. Lee holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Economics from University of California at Irvine, USA, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Seoul National University, Korea.

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