In a comprehensive ADB Insight episode preceding the 2024 ADB Annual Meeting, ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development president Odile Renaud-Basso, and Georgia finance minister Lasha Khutsishvili shared insights into forging a sustainable and inclusive future.

Media reports underlined this adding Asakawa highlighted that so-called developing Asia’s economies were projected to achieve a robust growth of 5 per cent in 2023, with an anticipated sustained momentum of around 4.9 per cent in the subsequent years.

He underscored successful containment of inflation, with rates dropping from 4.4 per cent in 2022 to 3.3 per cent in 2023. This growth trajectory stemmed from factors like robust domestic demand, improved export performance, strong remittance inflows, tourism revival, and China’s economic recovery.

However, Asakawa also outlined significant challenges, including geopolitical conflicts, potential volatility in global financial markets due to monetary policy shifts in advanced economies, and food security concerns.

He emphasised ADB’s commitment to addressing the latter through a comprehensive $14 billion financial package, primarily focusing on bolstering the agriculture sector’s resilience to external shocks.

Highlighting the looming climate crisis, Asakawa stressed the pivotal role of the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for over 60 per cent of CO2 emissions and being disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters. He advocated for collective action against protectionism, promoting open and free trade bilaterally and multilaterally, and deepening cooperation efforts to complement globalisation.

Finance minister Khutsishvili shared Georgia’s remarkable economic growth rates, with double-digit figures in 2021 and 2022, and continued momentum with a 7.5 per cent growth in the preceding year, poised to persist in the current year.

These insights underscored the imperative for concerted global efforts to navigate prevailing challenges and foster sustainable development across regions.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DR)

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