Tuesday, November 21, 2017, 15:00 - 16:00
PRESS CONFERENCE
Toyoo Gyohten, Honorary Advisor, the Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA)
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.
US President Donald Trump's recent visit to Asia was judged to have been a success in terms of building and reinforcing relationships with key regional leaders, including Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe and China's president Xi Jinpin. And, Mr Trump claimed success in having secured multi-billion dollar trade deals with Asian partners that will further his "America First" polices and reduce the USD trade deficit. The US leader also sought to secure East Asian solidarity in dealing with the nuclear threat from North Korea.
But Mr Trump's emphasis on "making friends" with key Asian leaders and his "deal making" skills may have little last impact upon US diplomatic and trade relations with the Asia region. Arguably his visit may even have served to widen fundamental geo-strategic and economic differences within the region.
His repeated references to the "Indo-Pacific" (rather than Asia-Pacific) region was widely seen as an attempt to downplay the fast-growing influence of China as a key regional player, and to underscore the importance of a US and Japan-led strategic and economic alliance that will cooperate closely with India, Australia and others. This is symbolised by the parallel and competing concepts of China's One Belt-One Road (OBOR) scheme and the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) plan being pursued by Japan and India.
In the wake of the Trump visit, the FCCJ has invited a veteran and widely respected expert on Asian affairs, Toyoo Gyohten to put recent developments into a broad economic perspective.
Gyohten is a former vice finance minister for international affairs in Japan and a former chairman of the Bank of Tokyo who also served as president of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA) in Tokyo. He became an honorary advisor to the IIMA in October 2016. Gyohten served for many years in the Japanese Ministry of Finance until 1989, and also served as chairman of the Institute of International Finance in Washington and as special adviser to the prime minister of Japan.
He served as senior advisor at Shinsei Bank and as international advisor at to the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He worked for the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank where he was one of the founding members and served as special assistant to the president. Gyohten chaired Working Party III of the OECD in Paris from 1988 to 1990.
He also served as a member of a number of institutions dedicated to financial and economic development, among which are the Bretton Woods Committee, the Asia Pacific Advisory Committee for the New York Stock Exchange, the Group of Thirty, and the Trilateral Commission.
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Professional Activities Committee
