REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME AND INDONESIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Hybrid Seminar
The Indonesian government’s fiscal stance for 2025 aims to maintain continuity in development policies while accommodating the programs of the new administration led by the President-elect Prabowo Subianto. A sound fiscal policy will be critical to achieving Indonesia’s Golden Vision of becoming a developed economy by 2045 and achieving Prabowo’s eight-percent annual economic growth target.
As the global economic situation remains uncertain, the next government will face tough challenges to ensure prudent fiscal management while implementing various flagship programs, such as the free school lunch program, the new capital Nusantara project and the projected military spending increase. Prudent fiscal management is therefore important to keep investors’ confidence in the country’s economic stability amid rising financial pressures, lower commodity prices, and slowing global investment flow. This seminar will highlight some of the key fiscal policy measures under the current and next administrations as well as the political economy of implementing difficult fiscal reforms. The speaker will also discuss the major challenges facing the Indonesian economy in 2025 and beyond.
About the Speaker
Muhamad Chatib Basri is Indonesia’s former Finance Minister and former Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board. He currently serves as the Chairman of Bank Mandiri and XL-Axiata.
Dr Basri is a member of numerous International Advisory councils including the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development, the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance for COP27 and 28, and the Advisory Board, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, the Australian National University. He is also a member of the Governing Board of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
Registration
This is a hybrid event which will be held at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS
To join the event in-person at ISEAS, please register via the ISEAS mobile app, available on iOS and Android via the Apple or Play store. Search “ISEAS” to find or scan this QR code.
Apple Store
Play Store
Seating capacity is limited. Do register early to avoid disappointment.
Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar
To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register here to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.
If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
Thursday, 20 June 2024 – In this hybrid seminar, Mr Alexandre Dayant from the Lowy Institute shared his findings on the evolution of sourcing, composition, and quantum of official development finance (ODF) in Southeast Asia over the past decade, and its present and future implications for the region. He was joined by Dr Satish Chand, Dr Stephen Howes, and Dr Sarah Y. Tong.
ISEAS-ERIA JOINT WEBINAR
About the Webinar
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a significant presence in Southeast Asia. They account for 90% of total enterprises and about 70% of total employment in the region, respectively. A number of policies have been implemented in Southeast Asian countries to support the participation of SMEs in the digital economy. This webinar will explore the state of SMEs’ participation in the digital economy in two countries, namely, Cambodia and Lao PDR. It will examine some of the on-going challenges facing SMEs in adopting digital technologies in these two countries. The webinar will also provide policy assessments and recommendations for digital transformation of SMEs.
About the Speakers
Dr Sothea Oum is Senior National Economist and Consultant at the UNDP Cambodia. Dr Oum obtained his PhD in economics from the Monash University. He has extensive research and consulting experiences in the areas of economic development, regional integration, private sector development, small and medium enterprises and disaster management. His previous appointments include Senior Lecturer at the Adelaide Education Centre at the University of Adelaide and Economist at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
Dr Phouphet Kyophilavong is Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business Management, National University of Laos. He received his PhD in Economics from the Kobe University. His research interests include macroeconomic policies, economic integration, energy, natural resources and environmental issues, and poverty. He was a Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Fellow at the Harvard University.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. To join us, please register here to receive your unique link.
Please note that each registration is good for only one login at any one time during the event.
ISEAS-LOWY INSTITUTE JOINT SEMINAR
About the Hybrid Seminar
Most Southeast Asian countries are still developing economies with significant financing needs, notably for infrastructure, human development, and responding to climate change. International development cooperation has therefore a critical role to play. Yet, development support from the international community has dwindled to the lowest level ever recorded, even as China and Western governments increasingly use development finance as a tool for influence amid intensifying geostrategic tensions.
Understanding the scale and contours of development finance in Southeast Asia is of critical interest to governments in the region and their development partners.
The seminar will consider how the sourcing, composition, and quantum of development finance has been evolving over the past decade, and its implications for the region, presently and into the future. It will draw upon the findings of a recent study from the Lowy Institute that tracks and analyses more than 120,000 development projects in Southeast Asia from 107 partners from 2015 onwards.
About the Speakers
Alexandre Dayant is a senior economist and Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute. Alexandre directs both the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map and the Lowy Institute Southeast Asia Aid Map projects, which provide the world’s most comprehensive data tracking of all official aid and other development finance flows to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining the Institute in 2017, Alexandre worked as a management consultant for PwC in Mexico.
Satish Chand is currently the Professor of Economics in the School of Business at the University of New South Wales and based at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. He is also a Research Associate of the National Research Institute in Papua New Guinea and an Adjunct Professor at the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University (ANU). Before joining UNSW, Chand worked for the Australian Commonwealth Treasury and the Australian Taxation Office.
Stephen Howes is a Professor of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. He is the Director of the Development Policy Centre. Stephen served as Director of the International and Development Economics program of the Crawford School from 2009 to 2014. Prior to joining the Crawford School in 2009, Stephen was Chief Economist at the Australian Agency for International Development. He worked from 1994 to 2005 at the World Bank, first in Washington and then in Delhi, where he was Lead Economist for India. In 2008, he worked on the Garnaut Review on Climate Change, where he managed the Review’s international work stream.
Sarah Y. Tong graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and worked at the Development Research Center of China’s State Council. She obtained her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at San Diego. She is Senior Research Fellow of NUS’ East Asian Institute and its cluster head for the economics team. Her research interests concentrate on the development and transformation of Chinese Economy, including development in trade and foreign investment, development of regions, financial sector reforms, the reforms of state-owned enterprises, industrial policies and restructuring.
Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS
To join the event in-person at ISEAS, please register via the ISEAS mobile app, available on iOS and Android via the Apple or Play store. Search “ISEAS” to find or scan this QR code.
Apple Store
Play Store
Seating capacity is limited. Do register early to avoid disappointment.
Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar
To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register here to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.
If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
In this webinar, Juthathip Jongwanich and Nguyen Dinh Chuc shared their views on the state of SME participation in the digital economies of Thailand and Vietnam. They discussed some of the ongoing challenges facing SMEs in adopting digital technologies and offered policy recommendations for the digital transformation of SMEs in the two countries.
In this hybrid seminar, Dr. Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti shared greater insights on Indonesia’s blue economy programme and discussed policy implementations to facilitate further growth in this new sector.
In this webinar, Ishana Ratan shared her views on recent trends in the relocation of solar manufacturing to Malaysia and explored the reasons behind the difficulty that renewable energy manufacturing faces in creating linkages for local solar installation.
ISEAS-ERIA JOINT WEBINAR
About the Webinar
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 90% of total enterprises in Southeast Asia. About 70% of total employment in the region is provided by SMEs. In cognizance of the importance of SMEs, governments in the region implemented policies to enhance the participation of SMEs in the digital economy. This webinar will explore the state of SMEs’ participation in the digital economy in two countries, namely, Thailand and Vietnam. It will examine some of the on-going challenges facing SMEs in adopting digital technologies in these two countries. This webinar will also provide policy assessments and recommendations for the digital transformation of SMEs.
About the Speakers
Dr Juthathip Jongwanich is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University in Thailand. She holds a PhD (High Distinction) in Economics from the Australian National University. Her research interests lie in the areas of international economics, international macroeconomics, capital mobility, multinational enterprises, and international production networks.
Dr Nguyen Dinh Chuc is the Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS). His previous appointments include Director General of the Institute of Regional Sustainable Development, VASS and Deputy Director of Investment Policies Department at the Central Institute for Economics Management (CIEM).
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.
Please register here to receive your unique link for joining the webinar.
If you have questions for the speakers, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
In this webinar, Professor Thanh-Long Giang and Dr Reuben Ng emphasised the importance of reframing perceptions on ageing as a key step in adapting to the demographic changes in Southeast Asia.
In this webinar, Dr Jayant Menon, H.E. Dr Sok Siphana and Dr Hal Hill shared their views on the structural transformation and diversification that Cambodia needs to undergo in order to achieve its economic aspirations.