Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
Global Audience Joins ABCDE 2006 Tokyo via Video Link
Enriches Discussions on Conference Theme "Rethinking Infrastructure"
The Opening Session of the ABCDE Conference, Tokyo Japan "Rethinking Infrastructure for Development" jointly hosted by Government of Japan. Photo: World Bank/Ken Katsurayama.
GDLN centers in Asia and beyond joined over 800 participants assembled in Tokyo for the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) held at Mita Conference Hall on May 29 and 30, 2006. Marking the first time that this global event, organized by the World Bank and Japan's Ministry of Finance, was held in Asia, the TDLC facilitated videoconferencing connections by providing its technical know-how and coordination services on-site to make the event accessible to a diverse audience.
Over the two day conference, 9 sites including the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore, tuned into nearly 10 hours of coverage in total. The opening session and three plenary sessions, as well as keynote speeches by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Sadako Ogata and Nobel Prize Laureate for Economics Joseph Stiglitz were featured, with opportunities for sites to pose questions to leading thinkers in the field. It brought the Bank's research on development in closer contact with Asian perspectives; this year's theme "Rethinking Infrastructure for Development", proved to be of particular relevance to countries in the region.
Opening the Conference, both World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Japan's Minister of Finance Sadakazu Tanigaki expressed condolences to the victims of the earthquake which hit Indonesia on May 27th, 2 days before the conference.
In his speech, President Wolfowitz outlined what "rethinking" infrastructure meant for the Bank, pointing to a two-pillar strategy. First, the Bank is re-engaging on the lending side after a decline in the 1990's, ramping up infrastructure investments by $1 billion a year. Second, the Bank Group's knowledge and technical expertise must be used to effectively mobilize other investments, helping to create the right economic, financial, and regulatory environment for infrastructure investment.
During Plenary Session 4 on "Infrastructure and Regional Cooperation" participants in connecting sites Mongolia and Sri Lanka appeared "on screen" to direct questions to panelists on stage. The session featured a presentation by Asian Development Bank Vice President Liqun Jin on behalf of President Haruhiko Kuroda, who could not attend because of the situation in Indonesia,
Making a surprise appearance, Slovenian Minister of Finance Andrej Bajuk connected from Ljubljana during the closing session to announce that ABCDE 2007 would be held in Slovenia. Regional Communications Manager Peter Stephens from the World Bank Singapore Office also joined the session via videoconference to convey his appreciation for the ABCDE, which set the stage for the Bank's annual meetings coming up in Singapore.
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