Jakarta, 27 October 2020: ERIA, together with the New Zealand Mission to ASEAN, organized a webinar on ‘COVID-19 Robust Economies – Regional Impacts of COVID-19 and Options for Recovery.’ The webinar attracted more than 150 participants. Dr Alan Bollard, Professor of Asia-Pacific Economies at the University of Wellington and ERIA Governing Board Member from New Zealand, was the webinar convenor and moderator.

Koji Hachiyama, Chief Operating Officer of ERIA made introductory remarks and discussed the importance of continuing to build resilient and integrated production networks across ASEAN and the dialogue partners. The webinar was then opened by Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN who highlighted the importance of developing recovery strategies across ASEAN, including with the involvement of dialogue partners. Dato Lim Jock Hoi also mentioned how openness and multilateral approaches will be key for ASEAN during the post-pandemic phase.

Other speakers included: Dr Lili Yan Ing, Lead Advisor, ERIA, Dr Deborah Elms, Founder and Executive Director of the Asian Trade Center (ATC), Dr Pavida Pananond, Associate Professor, Thammasat University, Thailand, and Mr Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Secretary: Trade and Economic, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. They discussed the economic effects of the pandemic as well as current macroeconomic and fiscal trends across the regions, trade integration, production networks, and the digital economy.