The 11th edition of Asian Financial Forum beginning here on Monday would focus on the state of global economy in 2018 and how Asia fares in it, an official said on Sunday.
"The two-day Asian Financial Forum held from January 15-16 will deliberate on the global economy in the wake of uncertainty and volatility in currencies," said an official from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
Organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the HKTDC, the forum is expected to witness the participation of around 100 speakers and nearly 3,000 delegates from around 50 countries including China, India and US among others.
Keynote speakers include the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) First Deputy Managing Director of David Lipton, Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President and Chairman Jin Liquin among others.
"The forum will gather some of the influential members of the global financial community to discuss economic developments and trends from an Asian perspective," said a statement from the organisers.
With the US economy on the rebound and demand picking up worldwide, the platform will look at the impact of it on the rest of the world and how Asia could capitalise on the opportunities in the developed countries.
Emerging financial technology (FinTech) sector in Asia and how it can transform the future of banking, the future of jobs in Asia, Artificial Intelligence and big data opportunities are some of the topics to be discussed.
According to a recent World Bank report, the global economy is estimated to have grown from 2.4 per cent in 2016 to 3 per cent in 2017. The financial institution forecasts the global growth to grow up to 3.1 per cent in 2018.
The IMF and World Bank state that India continues to grow faster than China though high value currency note ban in November 2016 and the new indirect tax regime (Goods and Services Tax) have created "short-term disruptions" to the economy.
India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to pick up to 7.3 per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal year as the corporate sector adjusts to GST, according to World Bank.
The IMF sees India's GDP growth rate to be accelerating to 7.7 per cent in 2018-19, while China's growth rate is projected to be at 6.4 per cent in 2018.
The Central Statistics Office of the Indian government had recently estimated that the country's GDP growth rate in 2017-18 was at 6.5 per cent, as a double whammy impact of the demonetisation and GST.
The Indian government had earlier projected a GDP growth rate of 7.1 per cent for 2017-18.
(Bhavana Akella is in Hong Kong at the invitation of Hong Kong Trade Development Council. She can be contacted at bhavana.a@ians.in)
--IANS
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