The World Bank estimates that in the next ten years Asia will require US$ 1.5 to 2 trillion for infrastructure development. Despite keen interest, the private sector today provides less than 15 percent of the financing. APEC leaders have called for concrete steps to double private sector participation in the next five years.

• How can countries and international organizations create more projects that will attract private investors?
• How can governments expand private participation into new sectors?
• What is the key to attracting long-term private institutional investors?
• How do governments ensure that local demands for equity, efficiency, transparency, affordability, and environmental sensitivity are met?

While macroeconomic stability is a necessary condition for growth, it is not enough to attract and sustain private sector investment and competitiveness. In many countries, the business environment needs attention. This seminar, and the breakout sessions that follow it, will address the legal-economic conceptual framework and the practical instruments needed to encourage flexible business transactions, mobility of resources, property rights, risk mitigation, collateral and leasing practices, industrial clusters, and supply chain management.

• What are the building blocks for investment and competitiveness and how are they established?
• What are the impediments to fostering productivity and competitiveness?
• What are the strategies and instruments for putting the blocks in place, filling in gaps, and creating the degree of certainty needed to encourage investment and growth?
• How can the private and public sectors implement the strategies and apply the needed instruments?

This seminar will be followed by two breakout sessions:

Discussion Leaders

R. Shyam Khemani, Manager, Competition and Strategy Group, Private Sector Development, World Bank Joseph Saba, Country Director, West Bank and Gaza, World Bank

Increasingly, companies are developing strategic alliances with community groups and governments to promote economic development. In Asia, such partnerships are being fashioned to further community and national development goals, while enhancing corporate reputations and profitability.

• What types of alliances among companies, governments, and civic organizations have been most successful and why?
• How is corporate citizenship benefiting companies?
• How can communities and governments support and leverage such partnerships to further their development objectives?

Discussion Leaders	Page Chapman, President, Bankers Trust Foundation, USA Rudolph Schlais, Jr., President, China Operations, General Motors, China Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Industries, Ltd., India Aurora Francisco Tolentino, Executive Director, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Philippines
Moderator	Peter Woo, Honorary Chairman, Wheelock & Company, Ltd., Hong Kong SAR, China

By the year 2000, roughly half of the world's population will be under the age of 20. For global companies, young people represent the markets, creativity, and labor force of the future.

• Why are companies increasingly working with NGOs, foundations, and governments to confront challenges facing young people?
• What types of partnerships have been most successful, and why?
• What is being done on this front in Asia?

International capital flows have increased substantially faster than trade in goods and services in recent years. While many countries have liberalized their regulation of capital flows in order to realize the greatest benefit to their economies, many restrictions remain. The IMF's Articles of Agreement (Article VIII) contain a commitment for members to achieve a full liberalization of current account transactions, and so far 139 countries have accepted this obligation.

• What are the policy implications of increased international capital flows?
• How is further capital account liberalization impacting countries?
• Should the IMF's Articles of Agreement be amended?

Asian entrepreneurs are setting the pace for economic change in Asia, creating new strategies for succeeding both within and outside the region.

• What are Asian businesses’ strategies for global expansion?
• Where are Asian entrepreneurs investing and why?
• What can governments do to stimulate favorable investment conditions and to encourage the growth of entrepreneurship?

Even with expected gains in efficiency and increased private investment, Asia will require more than a trillion dollars over the next decade to meet its energy needs. This workshop session will present the World Bank Group's perspective on global approaches to energy and environmental issues, and the companion seminar that follows will explore prescriptions for environmentally sound energy investments.

• How can coal continue to be a fuel of choice without further damage to the environment?
• Do hydroelectric sources hold potential for more efficient and environmentally sound power?
• Can the region increase its use of more environmentally friendly fuels, such as natural gas?

India is entering a new era of accelerated growth and reform, with expanding opportunities for foreign as well as domestic investors.

• What measures is the government taking to attract and encourage private investment, particularly in infrastructure?
• What does the private sector perceive as impediments to investment?
• Which sectors are government priorities for private investment, and which sectors are more attractive to investors?
• Can India emulate the East Asian development experience?

Official Development Assistance (ODA) has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. Some cuts in ODA can be attributed to budget tightening in donor countries. But others reflect a growing concern about the true effectiveness of aid.

• What conditions are required for aid to support growth and poverty reduction effectively?
• With growing private investment in developing countries, what is the role of development institutions?
• What can we learn from civil society and the business community about increasing the effectiveness of aid on the ground?

Introduction	James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank Group
Keynote Speaker	The Honorable Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia