Dialogforen mit Ankerländern
Financial CrisisFinancial Regional Cooperation in South Asia
Conference on Deepening Financial Sector Reforms and Regional Cooperation in South Asia
2nd ICRIER – InWEnt Annual Conference
Background
Financial markets in developing countries and emerging markets have undergone tremendous transformation over the last decade. During this period, financial markets have experienced a rapidly changing global environment involving widespread liberalisation of capital flows, the emergence of new market participants and the creation of highly sophisticated instruments. Robust financial markets and sound financial institutions have not only a critical role to promote growth and development, but can also better cope with boom-bust cycles. Policy makers, central bankers and supervisory authorities of developing countries and emerging markets alike have initiated vast financial sector reforms in which course several segments of domestic financial markets, in particular the banking sector and government bond markets, have been deepened and broadened.
On a regional Asian level, the severe experience of financial crisis by developing countries and emerging markets in the late 1990s induced a process of intensified cooperation in financial and monetary issues. Currently, high current account surpluses and considerable built-up of foreign exchange reserves are taken by developing countries and emerging markets as an opportunity to tackle currency and maturity mismatch by deepening regional financial markets and increasing their size and liquidity. However, considerable downside risks for financial stability and vulnerability to extra-regional shocks still remain. In addition, enhancing regional frameworks and shaping of policy space on a regional level constitute encouraging tasks. These and other trends and problems provide demanding challenges for central banks, financial supervisory authorities and policy makers in these countries.
Conference Concept
Against this backdrop, this conference focuses on financial sector issues with particular reference to regional financial cooperation and integration. It covers issues of deepening financial markets in South Asia and broadening regional financial cooperation in a wider Asian context.
The conference seeks to bring together central bankers, policy makers and financial practitioners from South Asia with selected representatives from international organizations and academia for a dialogue on four related sets of questions.
First, what are the next steps of financial market reforms given the increasing financial globalisation and rising regional interdependence?
Second, what policy measures would improve regional financial market infrastructure taking into account that the pace of financial deepening has been accelerating in individual countries in recent years, while regional cross-border financial flows are still limited?
Third, what policy responses would be conducive to increase financial sector access to those segments of the population which have not benefited from financial sector reforms and financial market integration, yet?
And fourth, what are the challenges to more intensified pan-Asian regional financial and monetary cooperation?
To address these questions, the conference will be organised around three substantive sessions and a high level panel discussion.
For more information on the dialogue please refer to the ICRIER homepage or contact
Mrs. Dettmann-Busch.
© GIZ 2006