| 19 January | 19 January | 20 January | 20-21 January |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:30am-12:30pm | 9:30pm-11:00pm | 9:30am-10:00am | 9:00am-5:00pm |
Economists’ Forum 2022 Opening Session ADB’s Knowledge Journey—The Role of Research and Collaboration Under Strategy 2030, ADB aims to combine finance and partnerships with knowledge to help achieve its vision of a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific. COVID-19 has exacerbated the region’s development challenges, and it underscored the importance of evidence-based interventions to address these challenges. In this session, a panel of experts will explore how economic research can continue to help achieve the goals of Strategy 2030 and provide views on what the priorities of ADB’s research agenda should be for it to remain cutting edge and policy relevant. | ADB Distinguished Speaker Program – Daron Acemoglu Lecture topic: Automation and the inappropriateness of technology Is the world today afflicted with excessive automation? In this lecture, Professor Daron Acemoglu will discuss automation and its consequences, including the potential economic, political, and social costs of the current path of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. By displacing the developing countries’ most valuable resource—labor—with capital and algorithms, the current trajectory of technology adoption may be inappropriate for the needs of the emerging world. | COVID-19 Country Assessment (COCOA) Report – Southeast Asia: Recovering from the Pandemic Two years after the pandemic started, Southeast Asia is beginning to recover, although the pace remains tentative, uneven, and sensitive to the volatile path of the pandemic. Output levels in the region are still well below the no-COVID baseline level, and the spread of the Omicron variant could further reduce growth forecasts. While the pandemic has exposed many of the region’s economic and social vulnerabilities, it has also intensified earnest efforts to build back better, which governments can do by investing in health, improving social assistance programs, supporting small enterprises, building competitiveness, and choosing a greener path to economic recovery. How countries build on key lessons learned and respond to pressing challenges today will determine the pace and sustainability of their recovery efforts. | Economists Forum 2022 parallel sessions This year, at least 70 papers will be presented across 20 parallel sessions during the forum. Join us as staff across ADB departments discuss research work relating to economics and a wide range of topics. |