How Can the ADB Promote Regional Cooperation Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions?

Bhargav Dasgupta, Vice President of Asian Development Bank spoke to CGTN Europe about the tariffs impact on Asia-Pacific.

Transcript

00:00If you look at the Asia-Pacific region, trade has been a cornerstone of our development.

00:07Trade has lifted people out of poverty, created a vibrant middle class,

00:13and uncertainties due to trade tariff issues definitely create a lot of concern in our DMCs.

00:22That uncertainty also fuels financial market volatility and creates concern in terms of the risk appetite that people have.

00:33And that also has a secondary order impact in terms of the same growth and development and economic activity.

00:39Having said that, as I said, there is still some way to go till we know what's going to happen in terms of the bilateral negotiations.

00:46And that will potentially drive maybe some amount of rebalancing in terms of capacity across the region.

00:52But, you know, any of these crises is also an opportunity.

00:55This is an opportunity to look at policy reforms, particularly in the upstream side,

01:00help develop the markets to attract, create an environment for private capital to come in,

01:05create some amount of policy stability, policy transparency that crowds in private capital,

01:10and effectively, you know, improve the long-term competitive ability of nations.

01:16Secondly, there is an opportunity for regional cooperation.

01:19And I think that's very, very important in this environment for countries to come together and work together.

01:24With growing geopolitical tensions, how does the ADB maintain neutrality while fostering regional cooperation and integration,

01:32as you've just touched on?

01:33Our message is that regional cooperation is good for everyone.

01:36Rather than highlighting the political differences, we focus on what is useful and what is good for the region,

01:42what's needed for people in these regions.

01:44And that's been our approach and that's been working well.

01:48Our focus then will be in terms of how do we build better integration, you know,

01:52in infrastructure that allows for movement of trade and goods and people,

01:57look at maybe payment systems in the region, maybe, you know, digital infrastructure that supports entire region,

02:04maybe energy grids that support a region.

02:06One area that I think there's an opportunity for us to think about, it's obviously more long-term,

02:10is the overall consumption within the region.

02:14And that's important if you want to reduce the imbalances.

02:18That requires a lot of effort, a lot of work, but it's all about economic development

02:23and regional cooperation that fosters development and growth for people in the region.

02:29Thank you so much, Mr. Daskupa, for your time.

02:31Thank you very much.