Regional integration has been a buzzword in Asia over the last couple of decades, with rapidly growing trade integration and numerous economic partnership arrangements being concluded and under negotiation. However, there has been a deceleration in regional trade growth, and attitudes towards financial integration have become more mixed following the global financial crisis.
ASEAN has just completed the ASEAN Economic Community project launched a decade ago, and is set to further deepen integration through its AEC Blueprint 2025. These developments presented an opportune time to review the developments in regional integration and discuss the policy options and challenges for the future. The agenda for the seminar can be downloaded from here:http://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2016/hit2016/index.htm
The Center for Asian Central Bank Capacity Building (founded　by APPP) has finished the FY 2014-2015 program of the Executive Training Course and the policy experts course for the State Bank of Vietnam in March, 2016. The Center will continue to work with SBV, and is expected to expand its operation to Myanmar, in the coming year.
November 2-4, 2015: Prof. Takeda and Ugai visited the State Bank of Vietnam to advise its staff on economic analysis and forecasting.
November 24, 2015: Prof. Takeda published an article on the Renminbi's inclusion in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR). (http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/11/24/is-rmb-in-the-sdr-a-blessing-for-china/)
February 8, 2016: Prof. Takeda published an article on the Bank of Japan's introduction of a sub-zero interest rate. (http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/02/08/the-bank-of-japans-sub-zero-shock/)
February 22-26, 2016: Prof. Takeda visited the State Bank of Vietnam to conduct a training course for senior SBV officials on international integration.
March 8-9, 2016: In a conference held jointly by the Brookings Institute and the Australian National University, Prof. Takeda did a presentation on the impact of advanced country central banks' quantitative easing (QE) and the consequences of QE's withdrawal.
