Southeast Asia, along with broader issues of development, change and the policy challenges facing the world, were very much topics for debate here on America’s Pacific Coast. At the annual Milken Institute Global Conference, which as always attracted a who’s who in finance, business, government and civil society – from former UK prime minister Tony Blair to basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson to the CEOs or chairpersons of Sony Corp and the Walt Disney Company, among others – China’s rise was also focused upon. But unlike in past years, Japan was also in the limelight, at a panel dedicated to “Abenomics”. A critical question persisted. Is the so-called third arrow of Abenomics – essential structural reforms – on target, particularly with the failure to announce any significant progress on Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks during the recent visit of President Barack Obama to Japan, followed by stops in South Korea and Southeast Asia?
Time for a little Abenomics at Asia’s development institutions
The Nation, a Bangkok based English newspaper published an article by Meera Kumar, who is a regular contributor to Gateway House. In this article, Meera analyses the need for structural reforms in financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB)