IMF Conference on Geoeconomic Fragmentation

May 25, 2023

After decades of increasing global economic integration, the world is facing the risk of fragmentation. A shallow and uneven recovery from the global financial crisis (GFC) was followed by Brexit, U.S.–China trade tensions, and a growing number of military conflicts. The post-GFC era has seen a leveling-off of global flows of goods and capital, and a surge in trade restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have further tested international relations and increased skepticism about the benefits of globalization. With the world facing the risk of policy-driven geoeconomic fragmentation, this one-day conference brings together leading scholars and policymakers to discuss the potential economic consequences of geoeconomic fragmentation, focusing on its effects on trade and capital flows, firms’ production networks, and technology diffusion.

First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath: Opening Remarks

Organizers: Shekhar Aiyar, Andrea Presbitero, and Michele Ruta

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Agenda

8:30-9:00 AM Breakfast and Registration 
9:00-9:05 AM

Opening Remarks: Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Read the Speech
  Download Sessions 1-5 Presentations
9:05-10:00 AM

Session 1: Geoeconomic Fragmentation

Chair: Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF

Discussants: Laura Alfaro, Harvard Business School and Ralph Ossa, World Trade Organization
10:00-10:15 AM Coffee Break
10.15-11.30 AM

Session 2: Trade 

Chair: Daria Zakharova, Deputy Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF

Discussant: Michael Plummer, SAIS – Johns Hopkins University
11:30 AM - 12:45 PM

Session 3: Technology

Chair: Helge Berger, Deputy Director, European Department, IMF

Discussant: Keith Maskus, University of Colorado Boulder
12:45-2:00 PM
 Lunch Break
2:00-3:15 PM

Session 4: Financial Flows

Chair: Fabio Natalucci, Deputy Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF

Discussant: Brad Setser, Council on Foreign Relations
3:15-3:30 PM
 Coffee Break
3:30-4:45 PM

Session 5: Global Value Chains and Foreign Direct Investment

Chair: Petya Koeva Brooks, Deputy Director, Research Department, IMF

Discussant: Davin Chor (Dartmouth College)
4:45-5:00 PM
 Closing Remarks: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department, IMF

For questions, please contact RESMSAST@imf.org.