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.