GEGI Hosts Launch of UNCTAD Report
The Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI), a research initiative at the Frederick S. Pardee School at Boston University, hosted the launch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report on October 11, 2016. The launch was followed by a workshop on the trade and development report as well as a reception for workshop participants and Boston University alumni.
In its annual Trade and Development Report, UNCTAD argues that economic slowdown in the advanced economies is the biggest drag on global growth, but developing countries are now caught in the downdraft.
The October 12, 2016 workshop, entitled “Developmental Financial Institutions in the Global South,” was attended by Pardee School faculty, GEGI researchers, UNCTAD economists and representatives from developmental financial institutions from around the world.
The workshop kicked off with a panel entitled “Rationale and the State of Play” Jose Antonio Ocampo of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University and Professor Ilene Grabel of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. GEGI Co-Director and Professor of Global Development Policy Kevin Gallagher chaired the panel.
The second panel at the workshop, entitled “Institutions for Shorter Term Finance,” featured Director of Economic Studies and Research and Development for the Latin American Reserve Fund Carlos Giraldo and Deputy Director of AMRO Yasuto Wantanabe. The panel was chaired by UNCTAD Senior Economist Diana Barrowclough.
After a lunch break, the workshop continued with a panel entitled “Development Banks and Sustainable Infrastructure,” featuring Boston University alumni and Director and Representative of Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) in Columbia Luis Victor Traverso (GRS ’77) and Director of the Infrastructure Department for the Islamic Development Bank Walid Abdelwahab. The panel was chaired by GEGI Visiting Scholar Rogerio Studart.
The last panel of the workshop, entitled “Lessons Learned,” featured Ocampo and Barrowclough, and was chaired by Gallagher.
Following the workshop, participants attended a dinner and reception at 121 Bay State Road that included remarks from Traverso on lessons from the Latin American experience for the AIIB and CRA.