PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The speech and Q & A will be in English with simultaneous interpretation

Asia and the Post-Crisis Global Economy

The International Monetary Fund is well and truly "back in business" after a number of lean years in which the usefulness of the 65-year-old institution had begun to be questioned. The global recession has underlined the need for an official lender of last resort to emerging economies when private capital markets are in retreat, while the IMF has also moved further toward centre stage in dealing with the aftermath of financial crises.

Yet the IMF is not fully back in business in Asia. Only a handful of the fund's loans to crisis-hit emerging economies have been made to Asian borrowers. To some extent this reflects the fact that Asian nations went into the crisis with strong current account and reserve positions, as well as with relatively sound fiscal positions

But another reason is Asian economies' residual mistrust of the IMF as a result of the treatment they received at its hands at the time of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

As tenth managing director of the IMF, former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn has managed the transition of the fund from its former somewhat marginalised status to its current central role in the global economy and financial system. He has also presided over reforms in the representation of Asian and other key emerging economies. Yet there are still challenges ahead if the IMF is to restore its legitimacy in Asia.

Strauss-Kahn, who assumed his position in November 2007, will focus on Asian issues in the wake of the financial/economic crisis. A former member of the French National Assembly and professor of economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, he has been a personal advisor to the secretary general of the OECD and helped manage the launch of the euro during his time as minister of Economy, Finance and Industry in France from 1997 to 1999.

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Sandwich Plate : Tuna, tomato, olive, roastedr red pepper, feta, oregano, salad & pickles (Ciabatta)

Hot Plate: Sautéed chicken breast with herb crushed potatoes, green beans, shallots, carrots and thyme Sauce,
seasonal salad

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)