GEGI Discusses New Development Banks
At a Nov. 16 event, global finance experts joined scholars from the Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) in a discussion about the meteoric rise of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
“The New Development Banks: Challenges and Opportunities” was the last in a seminal GEGI lecture series in the fall of 2015 that focused on Development Banks and Sustainable Development. These seminars featured talks by GEGI’s Bo Kong on October 16, who spoke on China’s Development Banks and the Globalization of Chinese Energy Policy, and SAIS’ Cinnamon Dornsife, on October 28, who spoke on the Battle for Development Finance in Asia.
Participating in “The New Development Banks” were Kevin Gallagher, GEGI Co-Director, along with Amar Batthacharya and Rogerio Studart of the Brooking Institution.
“Infrastructure in the United States is only rated as D+, but the challenge for improving infrastructure here is largely one of management. That’s not the case in the developing world,” said Batthacharya. “Infrastructure needs in the developing world are projected to exceed $4 trillion a year, and fulfilling them can’t be business as usual. Building infrastructure will have to take into account sustainable development and human welfare.”
Gallagher, Batthacharya and Studart discussed the AIIB and other development banks’ role in climate change and economic governance before a large audience of Pardee School students and the BU Community.
GEGI is an affiliated thematic research endeavor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University.
Batthacharya is a Senior Fellow at the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings Institution. His focus areas are the global economy, development finance, global governance, and the links between climate and development. Learn more about him here.
Studart has served as Alternate Executive Director to the World Bank Group, representing Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, the Philippines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago in the World Bank Group’s Board.
Gallagher is also co-chair of the Task Force on Regulating Capital Flows and has served as an advisor to the Department of State and the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, as well as to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Learn more about him here.