PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Haruhiko Kuroda,
President of Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The speech will be in English.

The global economy is experiencing its worst peace-time slump since the end of World War II. The Asian Development Outlook 2009 Update, published by the Asian Development Bank, predicts a further decline in the world's trade and industrial production in the near future, leading to another contraction of the global economy. However, amid the discouraging signs, developing Asian nations are proving to be more resilient to the economic slowdown. The ADB now predicts somewhat stronger growth for the year 2010 than had been predicted earlier and the Bank has upgraded the region's growth projection for 2010 to 6.4 percent.

Despite this robust growth figure, the Bank remains cautious about downside risks to the outlook and is warning that a prolonged global recession might reduce the speed at which developing Asia can return to its potential rate growth.

Haruhiko Kuroda is president of the ADB and chairs the bank's Board of Governors. He was first elected president in November 2004 and was re-elected in November 2006 for another five-year term. Before joining the ADB, Kuroda was Special Advisor to the cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. He joined the ministry of finance in 1967 and held a number of senior posts until his retirement in 2003. In the same year, he was appointed Special Advisor to the cabinet on international monetary issues. Kuroda holds a BA in law from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Philosophy in economics from the University of Oxford. He has authored several books on subjects ranging from monetary policy and exchange rates to international negotiations.He will speak on regional outlook for 2010.

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Sandwich: Cajun spiced swordfish with tomato, cucumber, coriander, lemon mayonnaise
Hot Plate: Lemongrass marinated chicken with avocado salsa, broccoli, vegetable rice & red pepper sauce

Haruhiko Kuroda, President of Asian Development Bank