Addressing banking system fragility has moved to the top of the international agenda. Although there has been much talk of improving supervision, participants in this session will consider different approaches to financial sector regulation, as well as lessons of how desirable financial reforms can be adopted politically.

• Can markets play a role in enhancing safety?
• What is the role of diversification in preventing systemic problems?
• How have successful reformers been able to muster political support for financial reform?

Continuing the dialogue of the preceding session, this panel will consider the steps needed to strengthen banking operations.

• What can governments do to make banking “safe and sound”?
• What is the role of international banking standards and enhanced surveillance?

The days when some major South Asian countries were confined to the “Hindu rate of growth” — 4 percent a year, more than half of which was swallowed up by population growth — are long since past. For the last decade South Asia has been second only to East Asia as the fastest growing region in the world. But the region still lags far behind its neighbors to the East in income levels and income growth.

• What are the critical factors that lie behind the remarkable rates of growth in East Asia?
• What key reforms are needed to achieve comparably high growth rates in South Asia?
• Does rapid growth require sacrificing equity and the environment?

Turbulence in international financial markets has underscored the need for regular and timely flows of economic and financial data. The IMF established the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) in April 1996 to improve availability of such data. Today, information about countries’ data dissemination practices is publicly accessible on the worldwide web on the Fund’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.

• How broad is the country coverage provided on the bulletin board?
• What kind of enhancements have been made to the bulletin board?
• What are the experiences and reactions of data users and data producers after one year of operation?

Asian investors are among those taking notice of the political, social and economic transformation under way in Africa. Last year, more than half of the continent's countries grew at rates higher than the 3 percent population growth; average GDP for sub-Saharan Africa was 5 percent.

• What makes the African markets appealing to Asian investors?
• How can the climate for foreign investment in Africa be improved?
• Which sectors are benefiting from Asian investment?
• What groups have facilitated Asian-African partnerships?

Corruption is now at the forefront of the development debate. Empirical evidence is beginning to show the negative impact of corruption on growth and investment. These findings parallel the emerging concern of politicians and policymakers around the world about the deleterious effects of corruption on economic performance, resulting in increased efforts to address the underlying causes of corruption and develop effective strategies for controlling it.

• What are the consequences of corruption for economic development?
• What have some of the most highly respected policymakers learned about corruption and what practical advice can they offer?

Egypt has experienced a major economic turnaround with improved macroeconomic performance, growth in privatization, and increased capital inflows of about US$ 2 billion last year alone.

• How sustainable is this trend and what is needed to accelerate economic growth?
• What policies will facilitate proposed concessions and BOTs in infrastructure?
• Can Egypt become a manufacturing hub for regional exports?
• What opportunities does Egypt’s Privatization Program offer to investors?

Influenced by the success of Chile, many countries are discussing or moving to funded pension systems. These shifts have major implications for the development of capital markets.

• What have we learned on pension reform — has Chile done it right?
• How necessary are “draconian” regulations at the start of the reform?
• What is the role of competition in the management of pension assets?
• How important is international diversification to a pension portfolio?

The availability and exchange of information and knowledge has a defining impact on business and social development today. The development of human resources, the preservation and management of natural resources, and the efficient transfer and management of finances increasingly depend on information technology.

• How does a country stay technologically competitive in a global information society?
• How can a country build a secure, high-performance information infrastructure to gain maximum developmental impact from these technologies?
• How can information technology improve the skills and intellectual capacity of a labor force, especially in the fields of science, technology, and business?
• What innovative technologies are driving the service industry boom, and how can countries capitalize on this?

The IMF's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) provides concessional financing to the world's poorest countries.

• What is the ESAF strategy for increasing growth and promoting a sustainable structure for the balance of payments?
• How successful have countries been in implementing this strategy?
• Why did the gap between economic growth in ESAF users and that in other low- and middle-income developing countries narrow during the late 1980s and early 1990s?
• What additional policy changes will help enhance growth rates in low-income countries?

Romania, the second largest country in Central Europe, is rapidly reforming. And the new government can already point to impressive results: foreign investment in the first quarter of 1997 grew ten-fold compared with the same period last year, and weekly turnover on the stock exchange this year is more than the annual turnover in 1996.

• Has the new government succeeded in establishing a foundation for stability and growth?
• What changes have been made in the legal framework— including amendments to the Foreign Investment Law, the new Bank Privatization Law, and the simplified rules for privatization of state enterprises?
• What progress has been made toward privatization and what are the opportunities for investors?

In 1996 portfolio equity flows to emerging markets increased in every region except East Asia, where they slipped some 12 percent. Furthermore, in a year of recovery in emerging stock markets, performance in Asian markets was at best mixed, and some markets —notably Thailand and Korea— fell dramatically.

• Are structural impediments to foreign investment in Asian stock markets taking their toll?
• Are ownership restrictions and foreign board pricing contributing to market stagnation?
• Is it time for markets with restrictions on foreign investors to level the playing field?
• What are the pros and cons of these restrictions for domestic and international investors?

Is there a case for improved fiscal transparency, and if so, what policies and reforms are necessary to achieve it?

• What are the benefits of greater fiscal transparency, and are there circumstances that would justify nontransparent behavior?
• Should governments commit to being more explicit about their fiscal policy intentions and forecasts, perhaps in a charter of fiscal responsibility (for example, as in New Zealand)?
• Should governments publish up-to-date comprehensive data on public sector operations?
• Should governments adopt accrual-based accounting of their operations to supplement existing cash accounts?

Opening Remarks	James D. Wolfensohn, President, The World Bank Group
Keynote Speakers	Jérôme Monod, Chairman, Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, France George Soros, Chairman, Soros Fund Management, USA