DAY 1: TUESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2022

Welcome and Opening Address

Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith

Minister of Finance Royal Thai Government

Keynote Address

Mr. Woochong Um Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Session 1: Mid-term Review of ADB Strategy 2030 Operational Priority 7 (OP7) on Fostering Regional Cooperation and Integration

Brief comments by delegation heads, and representatives of regional and multilateral organizations (At most 5- minute intervention per delegation leader)1

Moderator:

Ms. Xiaohong Yang

Chief Thematic Officer, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC), ADB

Presenter:

Mr. Ronald Antonio Butiong Chief, Regional Cooperation and Integration Thematic Group, SDCC, ADB

Session 2: Trends and Thematic Priorities Affecting the Future Directions of OP7

Moderator:

Mr. Alfredo Perdiguero Director, Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, Southeast Asia

Department (SERD), ADB

2A: Key priorities of RCI work in the next decade

Connectivity: This includes the hard (infrastructure) and soft (regulations) components of connectivity including 3 sectors: (i) transport road, railways, maritime, and air, (ii) energy (energy transmission, renewable energy, energy efficiency); and (iii) Information and Communication technologies (digital infrastructure and digital regulations)

Competitiveness: This includes 4 sectors (i) trade and investment, (ii) interconnected and interdependent network of livable, and smart cities, (iii) tourism cooperation, and (iv) joint development of high-value sustainable agriculture

Regional Public Goods: This includes (i) health cooperation, and (ii) managing climate change and/or natural disasters.

Panelists:

Mr. Samson Uridia

CAREC Trade Facilitation Focal, Head, International Relations Department, Revenue Service, Ministry of Finance of Georgia

Mr. Ranmuthu Hewage Kumarasiri

Director General,

Department of National Planning Sri Lanka

Mdm. Sisomboun Ounavong

Director General, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Lao PDR

H.E. Mr. Antonio Freitas
Vice Minister
Ministry of Finance, Timor Leste

2B: Cross-cutting issues for RCI work in the next decade

Questions:

1. ADB as Secretariat of RCI groups. What should ADB focus in terms of it secretarial roles in each subregion including: as (a) financier, (b) mobilizer of cofinancng from development partners and private sector, (c) knowledge provider, or (d) honest broker?

2. How could ADB promote more open RCI beyond well-established subregional initiatives?

3. How can ADB promote participation of other stakeholders in RCI (private sector, local governments, knowledge institutions)?

4. How could ADB work with countries, subregions and beyond to develop a robust RCI pipeline or projects?

Panelists:

Dr. Zhan Shu

Director, IFI Division 2 Ministry of Finance, People’s Republic of China

Mr. Mahmudul Islam Khan

Deputy Secretary,

Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh

H.E. Dr. Suon Sophal Director, Council for the Development of Cambodia

Mr. Vudthidech Chamnikij Senior Policy and Plan Analyst, NESDC, Thailand

Ms. Netty Muharni

Assistant Deputy Minister for Regional and Subregional Economic Cooperation Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, Indonesia

Brief Wrap Up of Day 1

Mr. Ronald Antonio Butiong

Chief, RCI Thematic Group, SDCC, ADB

DAY 2: WEDNESDAY, 24 AUGUST 2022

Session 3: OP7 Future Strategic

Moderator:

Mr. Thiam Hee Ng

Director, Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, South Asia Department (SARD), ADB

Presentations/Interventions

1. Implementing resilient, high-quality regional connectivity infrastructure to support the net-zero transition

• Showcase: Best practices and innovative cross-border transport projects from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

• Showcase: The World Bank’s experience in implementing inclusive, resilient, high- quality regional connectivity infrastructure in South Asia

Ms. Supee Teravaninthorn

Ms. Mandakini Kaul

1. (ii) Ensuring energy security and growing energy trade

   • Showcase: The Monsoon Wind Power Project

Mr. Nat Hutanuwatr

Managing Director, Impact Electrons Siam Company Limited

1. (iii) Enhancing regional connectivity through ICT

   • Showcase: The Asia-Pacific Remote Broadband Internet Satellite Project

Mr. Olivier Richard

Chief Financial Officer,
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group

1. (iv) Elevating the status and functionality of cross-border logistics

   • Showcase: The electronic cargo tracking system (ECTS) initiative under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Program (SASEC) and the Strengthening Multimodal and Integrated Logistics Ecosystem (SMILE) program in India

Mr. Nilaya Mitash

Principal Operations Coordination Specialist (Regional Cooperation), SARD, ADB

Session 4: OP7 Future Directions for Pillar 2: Regional Trade and Investment

Moderator:

Ms. Emma Fan

Director, East Asia Department (EARD), ADB

The session will cover three topics on key trends and prospects in regional trade and investments, including agriculture value chains and food security, digital trade and free trade areas.

1. Promoting Sustainable Agro-Based Value Chains and Food Security

Speaker:

Mr. Abdelkarim Sma

Lead Regional Economist, Asia and Pacific Division, Department Programme Management Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development

Panelist:

Mr. Takeshi Ueda

Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Economist, Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Division, SERD, ADB

1. (ii) Digital Trade: Trends and Prospects

Speaker:

Ms. Hannah Nguyen

Director, Digital Ecosystems, ICC Digital Standards Initiative

Panelist:

Mr. Luca Castellani

Legal Officer, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Vienna

1. (iii) Regional Trade: FTA Trends and Prospects

Speaker:

Mr. Yann Duval

Chief of Trade Policy and Facilitation Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, United Nations ESCAP

Panelist:

Ms. Deborah Elms

Director, Asian Trade Center, based in Singapore. She is an expert in RCEP, CPTPP

Session 5: OP7 Future Directions for Pillar 3: Regional Public Goods and Collective Action

Session overview and introduction of speakers

Moderator:

Ms. Lyaziza Sabyrova Director, Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, Central and West Asia Department, ADB

Panel discussion on RPG related issues work in four key priority areas:

1. A green deal for Asia and the Pacific? Connecting the global commons with regional and national public goods: RCI in support of ADB's role as the region's Climate Bank

   
   

2. Regional public health and equitable national vaccination: RCI in support of achieving "vaccine security" in the region

   
   

3. Regional cooperation and collective action for better disaster resilience

   
   

4. Operationalizing regional public goods through regional investment projects

Panelists

Mr. Southanou Nanthanontry Deputy Director General Department of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Health Lao PDR

Ms. Gao Kun Director, Department of International Cooperation and Rescue, Ministry of Emergency Management, People’s Republic of China

Mr. Yerzhan Abish Director, Department of International Economic

Cooperation, Ministry of National Economy

Kazakhstan

Ms. Cecile Fruman

Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region (SAR), the World Bank

Mr. Johannes Linn Non-resident Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution

Session 6: Future RCI Research and Innovation

Presentations followed by moderated panel discussion on the focus of RCI research for the next decade, which could be on three priority areas:

1. Digital transformation for productivity and inclusive growth

2. Digitalization of trade and supply chain for improved accessibility and trade facilitation

3. Digitalization and regional cooperation for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Need for new way of governance and policy making will also be discussed across all three priority areas.

Moderator:

Ms. Cyn-Young Park Director, Regional Cooperation and Integration, Economic Research and Regional

Cooperation Department (ERCD), ADB

Presentation on digital transformation and RCI:

Panel Discussion:

Presenter:

Ms. Lorraine Carlos Salazar Senior Knowledge Expert, McKinsey & Company

Panelists:

Ms. Rupa Chanda

Director, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, UNESCAP (services trade and RCI agenda)

Mr. Fukunari Kimura Chief Economist, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (trade and investment policy and facilitation and RCI)

Mr. Arndt Husar

Senior Public Management Specialist (Digital Transformation), SDCC, ADB

Brief Wrap Up of Day 2

Mr. Yuebin Zhang

Principal Regional Cooperation Specialist, SDCC, ADB

DAY 3: THURSDAY, 25 AUGUST 2022

Session 7: Green Finance for RCI and Economic Growth

Moderator:

Ms. Naeeda Crishna Morgado Infrastructure Specialist (Innovation and Green Finance), SERD, ADB

Presentation on Green finance through multilateral and regional cooperation

• ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance

  
  

• Supporting green bonds and green finance across ASEAN

  
  

• Green Finance Initiative in South Asia: A case study of Kerala – Sanjeev Kaushik

  
  

• Green Finance Initiatives and Instruments




• Green Finance for Net Zero Transformation and High- Quality Growth: Examples from ADB’s Engagement in the PRC and Its Regional Implications

Remarks:

Mr. Jay Roop

Principal Country Specialist for Thailand Resident Mission, SERD, ADB

Panelists:

Mr. Izlan Zainal Abidin
Deputy Chief Executive,
Securities Commission Malaysia

Mr. Kosintr Puongsophol Financial Sector Specialist, ERCD, ADB

Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik Principal Financial Sector Specialist, South Asia Department, ADB

Mr. PVS Suryakumar Deputy Managing Director, NABARD, Mumbai

Ms. Emma Fan

Director, EARD, ADB

Session 8: Summary and Conclusion of the Conference

Presentation of Summary of RCI Conference

Ms. Rosalind McKenzie Principal Operations Coordination Specialist (Fragile Situation), Pacific Department, ADB

Closing Remarks

Ms. Xiaohong Yang

Chief Thematic Officer, SDCC, ADB