Asia’s emerging economies: driving sustainable global growth
An Indonesian worker demolishes a building in Jakarta, Indonesia on 15 February 2012. Indonesia will need to spend 70 billion US dollars a year on infrastructure for the next five years in order to keep economic growth at an annual rate of six to seven percent or higher. (Photo: AAP)

Authors: Mahendra Siregar and David Nellor, Republic of Indonesia

While Asia’s emerging economies account for less than 30 per cent of global GDP, they contributed close to 60 per cent of global growth in 2011 and are expected to do the same in 2012.

The simple response here would be to assume that Asia is on the right track and that it simply needs to do ‘more of the same’. Read more…

G20 and the global agenda: A bigger role for Asia
The Asian region is one of the world’s most dynamic and includes two of the world’s largest economies

Authors: Mahendra Siregar and Tuti Irman, Republic of Indonesia

The unprecedented level of policy coordination by G20 countries in response to the global financial and economic crisis in 2008 was instrumental in preventing the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. It is still too early to say that the crisis is over, but at least we can safely say that it could have been much worse if the G20 had not acted swiftly. This success was the most important reason why the Summit of Heads of State or Government in Pittsburgh decided that from then on the G20 would be the premier forum for international economic cooperation—an historic decision from the perspective of global governance as well as the role of Asia in the global economy.

Does the G20 offer a new approach to global governance? Read more…