05-Mar-2026 11:39

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Asia in 2050 Conference in Bangkok, highlighted the past successes of Asian economies. She noted that the last quarter century has been Asia's golden hour. A region that, back in the year 2000, was still shaking off the pain of a financial crisis and went on to build new policy frameworks; new systems of financial sector oversight; official reserves; and above all, trust. There has been progress on a vast scale. Financial stability. Low inflation. FDI, technology upgrades, and trade. Record-breaking, private sector-led growth. Jobs. Poverty reduction as never seen before, with China and India in particular lifting hundreds of millions of people out of subsistence, she noted. Asia now generates two-thirds of global GDP growth and accounts for almost 40 percent of world trade. Georgieva stated that looking forward 25 years to the year 2050, Asia has created excellent initial conditions for continued success. She highlighted some transformative challenges: one, lifting productivity and competitiveness by harnessing AI; two, managing labor market pressures; and three, building resilience and preserving trade as an engine of growth through regional integration.

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