MILAN, Italy, May 4. The Asian Development Bank
(ADB) does not adopt a paternalistic approach toward its members,
but rather aims to highlight the consequences of various policy
decisions and promote cooperation, ADB Chief Economist and Director
General of the Economic Research and Development Impact Department,
Albert Park, said at the session “Globalization as a Force for
Sustainable Development” during the 58th Annual Meeting of the ADB
in Milan, Trend reports.
“It was very gratifying to see that in Asia, other than China,
all of the other countries basically said, we’re not going to
retaliate,” Park said, referring to ongoing geopolitical trade
tensions. “We had modeled retaliation scenarios, so it was great to
see that that doesn’t seem to be on the table.”
Park noted that ADB had earlier warned of the economic risks of
retaliatory trade measures. “Last December, we had scenarios where
we were pointing out the cost of retaliation, and hopefully some of
that message helped contribute to the response, which has been to
not retaliate and to really recommit to regional cooperation and
integration.”
He cited the recent ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting as a clear
example of the region’s commitment to deeper cooperation despite
global uncertainty.