Welcome Remarks for 7th IMF-JICA Conference（2025.2.13）

Honorable Ministers and Governors, Vice Minister Mimura, Deputy Managing Director Okamura, and distinguished delegates:

A very good morning to all of you.

I am delighted to welcome everyone to the Seventh IMF-JICA Conference. First, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the IMF and Japanese government for making this conference possible. I also want to thank staff members of the IMF and JICA for their diligent efforts in organizing it.

We last convened this conference in February 2023. Fiscal and economic challenges in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the need for more resilient economies, dominated our discussions then.

Yet, merely two years later, we find ourselves confronted with even more disruption, escalating risks, and profound uncertainties. Armed conflicts, severe economic headwinds, and natural disasters are accelerating global compounded crises. These crises are undermining human security and the impressive development gains of prior decades.

On the economic front, global inflation has peaked but GDP growth projections for Asia and the Pacific remain lower than pre-pandemic trends. During the decades following the Asian Financial Crisis, the region took advantage of globalization to become incredibly competitive, especially in the manufacturing sector. But nowadays, cross-border trade and investment are under serious strain in part due to counterproductive policies and heightened geopolitical tensions. Given these worrisome dynamics, regional and international collaboration are more important than ever.

This conference aims to provide fiscal and monetary authorities an opportunity for mutual learning to navigate resilient and sustainable development amid mounting uncertainty.

Today’s discussions will therefore delve deeply into three key policy areas, with the goal of fostering much needed alignment within the region and beyond.

In the first session, we will discuss how governments should cope with debt and rebuild buffers to meet the vast investment needs, such as facilitating the green transition and digital transformation.

The second session will focus on adaptation and resilience to climate change. We will discuss fiscal and physical preventive measures to limit future damages and recovery expenditures from natural disasters.

Lastly, during the third session, we will take on how to design and implement a sound industrial policy that delivers net economic benefits.

As an illustration, JICA has supported to formulate master plans, promote pre-disaster infrastructure investment, and build their institutional capacity to manage disaster risks more effectively. And some governments have significantly increased their own budgets for disaster risk reduction.

I am confident there are several success stories, innovative ideas, and complex challenges that we can learn from and improve upon to the benefit of all. JICA and the IMF are working together to help meet pressing challenges around the region. And JICA is fully committed to working with diverse partners to find solutions that create tangible and durable development impact.

Thank you once again for your meaningful participation. I wish all of you a productive and enlightening conference.