Advancing Asia meet to be hosted by India and IMF

New Delhi: Indian government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be hosting "Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future" which will bring together officials, corporate executives, academics and civil society representatives from more than 30 countries covering Asia and the Pacific.

"Advancing Asia provides a forum for Asia-Pacific leaders to discuss a region renowned for its economic successes over the past decades," said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

The Advance Asia conference will gather notable leaders from business and civil society, policymakers and academic.

IMF Managing Director today concluded his two days visit to India stating "I am delighted to have return to India these past few days to see first-hand remarkable dynamism of this country."

"As Asia's advanced, emerging market and developing economies move to the next stage of success, they face the key challenge of how to maintain and enhance the region's high growth record while boosting jobs, reducing inequality, accelerating infrastructure and human capital development and implementing other growth-enhancing reforms.

"I am very pleased to cooperate closely with the Government of India on this conference that will explore how the region can meet these policy challenges through investments in the future," said Lagarde.

The main agenda of the conference will include the most effective drivers of growth, income inequality, demographic change and gender, infrastructure investment, climate change, managing capital flows and financial inclusion.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and IMF Managing Director, Lagare will be among the conference keynote speakers.

The conference will be attended by other sector officials, including Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao, Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro and Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

Advancing Asia has followed the Asia 21: Leading the Way Forward conference, held in Daenjeon, South Korea in 2010, where the focus was to discuss the region's role in a global economy recovering from the Global Financial Crisis.

Advancing Asia will soon be held in New Delhi from March 11 to 13, 2016.(IANS)