The 2023 Asian Development Outlook Launch with Dr. Albert Park

Breakfast available from 8:30AM
Discussion begins at 9:00AM

Asia Society is proud to present a special briefing from the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Chief Economist, Dr. Albert Park, following the release of ADB’s flagship economic publication: Asian Development Outlook (ADO) April 2023. The ADO is published annually and provides a comprehensive analysis of economic developments in Asia and the Pacific, including growth projections by country and region, and discusses current challenges and risks to the region’s economies, from geopolitical instability to global financial conditions.

The briefing will be followed by a discussion with Asia Society Policy Institute Director of Asian Economic Affairs Shay Wester, and a question and answer session with the audience.

The ADO is available for download here.

Speakers

Dr. Albert Park is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank. He has more than 2 decades of experience as a development economist. A well-known expert on the economy of the People’s Republic of China, he has directed a number of large-scale research projects in the country. He has also served as an international consultant for the World Bank and a member of the steering committee for the Asia-Pacific Research Universities’ Population Aging Hub. He is Chair Professor of Economics (on leave) at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and previously served as Director of the Center for Economic Policy at HKUST. He also served as a founding director of HKUST’s Institute for Emerging Market Studies, professor at the University of Oxford, and associate professor at the University of Michigan. 

Shay Wester (moderator) is the Director of Asian Economic Affairs and Outreach Director at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), where his research focuses on trade and economics in Asia. He also leads ASPI’s external engagement with the U.S. and Asian policy communities in Washington D.C. Prior to joining ASPI, he spent 9 years in Singapore at the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, where he led policy strategy and programming across all industry verticals. He engaged extensively with U.S. and ASEAN governments and regional stakeholders to solve problems and address policy concerns. Earlier in his career, he served as a legislative assistant for Senator John Cornyn, providing policy analysis and advising on issues including foreign policy, homeland security, transportation, economic development, and space policy.  He also worked for the U.S. Trade Representative in the Office of Policy Coordination on the annual U.S. trade policy report to Congress, and for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.