This year’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meeting in Singapore promises to be an important event following the discussions about the IMF’s changing role at the Spring meetings in Washington. The get-together will also represent a throwback to the way the meetings used to run before 9/11. The Singaporean organising committee is determined to deliver an extended agenda, known as Singapore 2006, to allow more time for delegates to meet and discuss.
Notes Goh Chye Boon, co-chair of the organising committee: “Apart from attending the official meetings, we would like delegates to have the opportunity for the side activities as well. In fact these side activities often lead to contracts, collaboration between governments and private sector and so on. They have equal or greater potential to deliver real development results.”
The programme starts on 14th September evening with the Raffles Forum. That event – which will feature presentations from Lee Kuan Yew and Paul Volcker among others – addresses the governance of national wealth.
The meeting is also being positioned as an ASEAN event. Remarks Goh: “Right from the start in 2001, when we made our bid for the event, we said that this event is as not just about Singapore, it is also an opportunity to showcase ASEAN.’
“The global financial community has understandably been focused on China and India. We want to show them that ASEAN as a whole also represents a huge market with tremendous potential,” he adds.
The organisers expect around 16,000 attendees at the event, with strong representation from the private sector. According to Goh, around 120 private sector events are already being prepared. “We expect a very high level of private sector involvement. Many international business leaders recognise that these are exciting times for Asia. So our message to them is: if you want to spend a week in Asia and interact with the key political and business decision makers, come to Singapore this September,” Goh says.
Goh emphasizes that representation from the Asian region will probably be higher than normal, and believes that there is strong interest in the Annual Meeting from other regions as well, not least the Middle East. According to Goh, private and institutional investors from the Middle East are interested in opportunities in Singapore as well as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Notes Goh: “The Middle East and Asia are two of the most dynamic regions in the world today, growing at 5% and 7.5% respectively. Trade and investments are set to grow. We expect a good turnout from the Middle East – government, financial institutions and other business sectors. With a focus on good governance and national wealth management, we believe the inaugural Raffles Forum will be of interest to them.”