The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and its research and training arm, the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have co-hosted a virtual side event at the 52nd Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission.
The side event, on 25th February 2021, focused on measuring economic globalization and featured presentations about data development, statistical measurement, and economic analysis works related to global value chains (GVCs) undertaken by IsDB, IRTI, and ADB.
It was jointly inaugurated by IsDB Vice President, Mansur Muhtar, and ADB Vice President, Bambang Susantono. In his speech, Dr. Muhtar emphasized the commitment of both the institutions in supporting statistical research and analysis to facilitate evidence-based policy making and measurement of progress towards development goals.
The segments of the event were moderated and chaired by the chief economists of the two institutions. The first segment moderated by ADB’s Chief Economist, Yasuyuki Sawda, dealt with multidimensional aspects of economic globalization statistics including real effective exchange rate, localization and agglomeration, and digital economy. The second segment, moderated by Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General, IRTI & IsDB Group Chief Economist, focused on mapping value chains.
Dr. Mohammed Faiz Shaul Hamid of IsDB, during the second segment, presented his work entitled ‘The Evolving Global Automotive Value Chains’ and Dr. Witada Anukoonwattaka of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific presented the results of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean on economic integration between East Asia and Latin America through GVCs.
Attended by over 140 participants, the event was closed by Dr. Areef Suleman, Director of Economic Research and Statistics, IRTI, and Dr. Elaine S. Tan, Advisor and Head of ADB’s Statistics and Data Innovation Unit.
The IsDB and ADB commenced knowledge collaborations in 2018 to enhance the relevance, accuracy, timeliness, and detailed economic globalization statistics in addition to increasing the scope and depth of value chains analysis in common Member Countries (MCs). The collaboration has already resulted in an analytical report on the evolution of Indonesia’s participation in GVCs and work is underway to produce similar reports for other common MCs.