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The Asian Century Lectures

Good governance and strong institutions are key enabling elements of sustainable growth.  Rule of law, predictability and accountability are fundamental bedrocks of good governance, which in turn are necessary conditions for good development, and will be the main focus of this lecture. At the same time, Asia’s growth will not be sustainable if it is not simultaneously green.  Asia’s contribution to global greenhouse emissions will be substantial as the region grows. What should be Asia’s role in future global accords on climate change? The fifth and final lecture in this stimulating Asian Lecture Series weaved the strands of institutions and governance, inclusive, green and clean growth to argue that an Asian Century is indeed plausible but not inevitable.  Sanjaya Baru, Director for Geo-Economics and Strategy at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London as commentator for this lecture presented his views on the topic to a  captivated the audience and discussions followed.

Regional Cooperation and Integration
May 28, 2015
India International Centre, New Delhi
Asia’s prosperity and security in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world would require greater cooperation among itself in a spirit of open regionalism and not fortress Asia. Sub-regional cooperation initiatives have flourished, some more than others in various parts of Asia and the prospects of garlanding them leading to a Pan Asian integration will be assessed in this lecture.  Rule of law, predictability and accountability are fundamental bedrocks of good governance, which is a key condition for sustainable growth. In this fourth in the series of five lectures, Mr Nag discussed on why strong institutions are equally necessary to deliver development results and deliver economic progress, social justice and welfare for all and what should be their roles. Mr Nag presented a very thought provoking and persuasive case on regional cooperation, which was well attended by researcher, professionals and students.  Mr Shyam Saran, Chairman of Research and Information System for Developing Countries, as discussant for the lecture , presented his comments on the topic. Q & A with the audience and discussions over the dinner followed.

Addressing Infrastructure Deficits and Transforming Finance in Asia
May 12, 2015
NCAER Conference Room

Much of Asia is still plagued by severe physical infrastructure deficits. This lecture addressed the important challenges of meeting such infrastructure deficits, both hard and soft, and how they could be financed from both public and private sources. Institutional arrangements for meeting the infrastructure challenges in Asia, including through public private partnerships will be discussed.  As Asia’s share in the global economy grows, it should also have proportionately similar shares of financial assets to efficiently recycle and allocate its huge savings and foreign reserves. In his third in the series of five lectures, Rajat Nag  discussed on how this transformation will unfold and also address the important aspects of financial inclusion.

Asian Demographics and the Imperatives of High-productivity, Job-creating Growth
April 28, 2015
NCAER Conference Room

For aging Asia, productivity growth will have to be a priority, for which an enabling environment for innovation and enhanced use of technology will be key. While East Asia is aging rapidly, South and Central Asia are still relatively young and growing. Such a large young population can bring demographic dividends by enhancing consumption, saving and growth, but can also be a demographic disaster if productive employment opportunities for the young cannot be found. Without remunerative jobs, the economy would not accumulate wealth to eventually pay for the old-age care of this large population when it is much older. In his second in the series of five lectures, Mr Nag discussed on how Asia will manage these challenges. Professor Abhijit Sen from Jawaharlal Nehru University, as discussant for this lecture, also shared his views.

Asia’s Two Faces and the Need for Inclusive Growth
March 31, 2015
Alliance Francaise Auditorium

Many have termed the 21st century as the Asian Century. Asia’s economic growth has been spectacular over the past several decades: it accounts today for over a quarter of global GDP. Three of the five largest economies in the world today are in Asia. And millions have been lifted out of poverty. Asians today are richer, healthier, more educated, and live longer than they did a generation back.  But the region also faces severe development challenges.  Continuing poverty—two thirds of the world’s poor still live in Asia—rising inequality, social deprivation, environmental degradation, gender bias, food, energy and water insecurity, and poor physical and social infrastructure pose many pressing challenges. If these challenges go unmet, Asia could get caught in a “middle income” trap thus rendering the dream of an “Asian Century” just that: a dream. Delivering the first in a series of five special lectures, Rajat Nag spoke on need to pursue an inclusive growth strategy to meet the challenges of the diverging two Asias.

NCAER’s organised a  five-lecture series on the Asian Century by its Distinguished Fellow Rajat M. Nag, spread over a period of few months. Building a very thought provoking and persuasive case on regional cooperation, the lecture series examined the challenges that Asia must confront and also the opportunities that it must exploit to achieve the potential of an Asian Century, a proposition that he will show is plausible, but not inevitable. The lectures covered, Asia’s population demographics; the need to pursue an inclusive growth strategy; green growth and the competition for natural resources; infrastructure deficits and transforming finance; and, finally, governance, institutions, and regional integration.

Rajat Nag was until 2014 the former Managing Director-General of the Asian Development Bank. Besides joining NCAER, he is currently the Chair of the Look East Council of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and is a Visiting Professor at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila. Mr Nag began his professional career at the Bank of Canada, and held senior positions in consulting before joining the ADB. He has engineering degrees from IIT, Delhi and the University of Saskatchewan. He also has an MA in Business Administration from Canada and in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Looking East: India and the East Asian Policy Experience

Land Acquisition

As the debate over India’s new Land Acquisition Bill rages in public and in Parliament, NCAER organised a very timely conversation on Land Acquisition, the first of NCAER’s new Looking East series of live, practitioner conversations by video with key East Asian policymakers, scholars, and analysts.  Dr Ir Wahyu Utomo, Special Expert to the Coordinating Minister for Regional Development, Ministry for Economic Affairs, Indonesia and Dr Chatayan Phromsorn, Director, Bureau of Highway Standards & Inspection, Department of Highways, Thailand, shared their experiences with land acquisition policies and programmes. They were joined by Dr K. P. Krishnan, Additional Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Government of India. Dr  Ramesh Subramaniam, Deputy Director-General, Southeast Asia Department, ADB provided opening comments. The conversation was moderated by NCAER Director-General Dr Shekhar Shah, and NCAER Distinguished Fellow Mr Rajat Nag.

About the Speakers

Wahyu has extensive public policy and implementation experience in infrastructure, land, PPP, and housing in the Government of Indonesia. He has a PhD in Regional Sciences from Cornell University.  Chayatan has served extensively with the Thai Department of Highways including as the Director for Information Technology, and as project lead for some of Thailand’s largest infrastructure projects. His PhD in Civil Engineering is from University of Texas at Austin. Krishnan is a member of the Indian Administrative Service and has served in the Governments of Karnataka and India, including as Secretary Finance and Urban Development and Principal Secretary, Coordination, in Karnataka, Adviser to the Indian Executive Director at the World Bank, Joint Secretary, Capital Markets, Ministry of Finance, and Secretary, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.  Krishnan has a PhD in Economics and Finance from IIM, Bangalore and also has a law degree. Subramaniam oversees a range of ADB-supported operations across ASEAN and has worked in 25 countries across the Asia Pacific in his 18 years at the ADB, including as the Deputy Country Director for Indonesia and co-Team Leader of the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund. He has a PhD in Econometrics and Development from McMaster University in Canada.

About Looking East Policy Conversations

NCAER’s Looking East policy conversations, spread over the next several months, are designed to provide an opportunity for live, focussed dialogue among public policy practitioners in India and East Asia. These roughly two-hour, tightly organized video conversations at NCAER will be driven by mutual interest and intellectual curiosity, with the invited East Asian policymakers selected for their intimate knowledge and involvement in their country’s public policy experience and their own interest in learning about how Indian policymakers are meeting similar challenges. The series is managed jointly by Shekhar Shah and Rajat Nag, both with extensive experience and contacts from their respective past work on East Asia on behalf of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The conversations will cover topics such as infrastructure financing, managing public private partnerships, labour reforms, exchange rate management, inclusive growth, export processing zones, fiscal federalism, safety nets, service delivery in health and education, child nutrition, maternal health, pensions and old age security, and climate change.

Looking East Video Conversation 2016

The Asian Century Lectures: Regional Cooperation and Integration

Please join us for the fourth in the series of five lectures on the Asian Century by NCAER Distinguished Fellow, Mr Rajat M. Nag. Our commentator will be Mr Shyam Saran, Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and Chairman of RIS.  Please join us for dinner after the lecture.

Asia’s prosperity and security in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world will require greater regional cooperation in a spirit of open regionalism and not fortress Asia. Sub-regional cooperation initiatives have flourished, some more than others, in various parts of Asia, and the prospects of combining them, leading to greater Pan Asian integration, will be assessed in this lecture. As Asia grows economically and its standard of living increases, its demand for natural resources will increase significantly. In this lecture, Nag will also discuss how the competition for resources between the growing Asian economies, particularly large ones like China and India, will evolve.

In the Asian Century Lectures, Rajat Nag examines the challenges that Asia must confront and the opportunities it must exploit to make this century the Asian Century, a proposition that he argues is plausible but not inevitable. In his first lecture, Nag spoke about the need to pursue an inclusive growth strategy to meet the challenges of rising inequality in Asia. While the second lecture covered the demographics of Asia and the need for high productivity jobs, Rajat’s third lecture addressed the challenges of infrastructure deficit and the need for a robust financial sector in Asia.  The last lecture (on June 9th) will cover the issues of good governance, institutions, and green growth.

      Rajat Nag is the former Managing Director-General of the Asian Development Bank and now a Distinguished Fellow at NCAER. He is currently also the Chair of the Look East Council of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, a Visiting Professor at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, and a Senior Fellow at the Emerging Markets Forum, Washington, DC.  Mr Nag began his professional career at the Bank of Canada, and held senior positions in international consulting before joining the ADB. He has engineering degrees from IIT, Delhi and the University of Saskatchewan. He also has an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Shyam Saran is the Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and Chairman, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. Ambassador Saran’s career in the Indian Foreign Services, spanning 36 years, has taken him to Beijing, Tokyo and Geneva. He has also served as India’s Ambassador to Indonesia and Nepal, and High Commissioner to Mauritius. In 2011, Ambassador Saran was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Please join us for dinner after the lecture. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org, or on 91-11-2345-2669.

The Asian Century Lectures: Regional Cooperation and Integration

Please join us for the fourth in the series of five lectures on the Asian Century by NCAER Distinguished Fellow, Mr Rajat M. Nag. Our commentator will be Mr Shyam Saran, Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and Chairman of RIS.  Please join us for dinner after the lecture.

Asia’s prosperity and security in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world will require greater regional cooperation in a spirit of open regionalism and not fortress Asia. Sub-regional cooperation initiatives have flourished, some more than others, in various parts of Asia, and the prospects of combining them, leading to greater Pan Asian integration, will be assessed in this lecture. As Asia grows economically and its standard of living increases, its demand for natural resources will increase significantly. In this lecture, Nag will also discuss how the competition for resources between the growing Asian economies, particularly large ones like China and India, will evolve.

In the Asian Century Lectures, Rajat Nag examines the challenges that Asia must confront and the opportunities it must exploit to make this century the Asian Century, a proposition that he argues is plausible but not inevitable. In his first lecture, Nag spoke about the need to pursue an inclusive growth strategy to meet the challenges of rising inequality in Asia. While the second lecture covered the demographics of Asia and the need for high productivity jobs, Rajat’s third lecture addressed the challenges of infrastructure deficit and the need for a robust financial sector in Asia.  The last lecture (on June 9th) will cover the issues of good governance, institutions, and green growth.

Rajat Nag is the former Managing Director-General of the Asian Development Bank and now a Distinguished Fellow at NCAER. He is currently also the Chair of the Look East Council of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, a Visiting Professor at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, and a Senior Fellow at the Emerging Markets Forum, Washington, DC.  Mr Nag began his professional career at the Bank of Canada, and held senior positions in international consulting before joining the ADB. He has engineering degrees from IIT, Delhi and the University of Saskatchewan. He also has an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Shyam Saran is the Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and Chairman, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. Ambassador Saran’s career in the Indian Foreign Services, spanning 36 years, has taken him to Beijing, Tokyo and Geneva. He has also served as India’s Ambassador to Indonesia and Nepal, and High Commissioner to Mauritius. In 2011, Ambassador Saran was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Please join us for dinner after the lecture. For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org, or on 91-11-2345-2669.

Financial Globalization in India: Opportunities, Challenges and Reforms

Since the early nineties, India has cautiously opened up to private foreign capital. While financial openness has increased over time, it is still limited in many dimensions. Gross Capital Flows as a percentage to GDP, a measure of financial openness, peaked in 2007 at 67.4 per cent, from just 15 per cent in the 1990s. Post the global financial crisis of 2008, gross capital flows as a percentage of GDP fell and averaged 49 percent between 2009 and 2013. The overall increase in financial openness in India since the 1990s has been associated with higher economic growth and a gradual development of domestic financial markets. However, the impact on macroeconomic discipline has been ambiguous, particularly given the unusual circumstances surrounding the financial crisis of 2008.

NCAER organised a national workshop to discuss the findings of a new research project dealing with the impact of financial globalization in India. Ms Renu Kholi, Senior Consultant at NCAER spoke on Financial Globalization in India: Opportunities, Challenges & Reforms. Saugata Bhattacharya, Senior Vice-President, Business, and Chief Economist, Axis Bank also presented his views in a panel discussion.

The NCAER research project sheds light on three aspects. First, it provides an assessment of the benefits and costs of financial globalization from the Indian experience. Second, it studies exchange rate volatility, including that emerging from unregulated non-deliverable forward markets abroad, based on the cross-country experience, and identifies the key determinants of rupee volatility. Third, it presents a sequenced roadmap for reforms to lower exchange rate volatility while progressing with financial liberalization. This research project has been generously supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British High Commission.

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