About the Speaker:

Dr Donghyun Park has been a senior economist at the Economics and Research Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) since April 2007. Prior to this, he was an associate professor of economics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, which he joined in June 1995. Dr Park’s main areas of research are international economics, macroeconomics and development economics. His work has been published extensively in highly respected academic journals, and presented at a large number of international academic conferences. His current research areas are policy-oriented topics of high relevance for Asia’s long-term economic development, including sovereign wealth funds, pension reform and skills shortages.

Abstract:

Since the Asian crisis, China and other developing Asian countries have built up foreign exchange reserves on an unprecedented scale. The build-up has created sizable surplus reserves, which, in turn, has led to widespread calls for more active management and productive use of surplus reserves. Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) provide a natural institutional blueprint for more active, profit-oriented reserve management. In fact, many Asian countries, including China and Korea, have set up or are planning to set up their own SWFs. The presentation explores the concrete and specific opportunities and challenges facing the region's new SWFs in their quest for higher returns.

Reservation:

Admission is free.  Please reply to Christina, e-mail: achristina@ntu.edu.sg or Tel: 6790-5689 to confirm your attendance.