SeminarTuesday 29 November 2011
6:00pm – 7:45pm
“Retiring” from the Global Economy? Challenges and implications for the UK and Japan
Drinks reception from 8:45pm
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The 2011 Euro-area debt crisis has led us to question if we are again in a danger zone. While the BRIC countries are increasing their presence and acting as stabilizers to the global economy, both the UK and Japan seem to be receding from the headlines of recent international economic discussions. As large, wealthy and advanced economies, this seems strange, but perhaps we are playing the same role as the retired? This seminar considered the economic challenges for countries with aging populations such as the UK and Japan, and discussed structural policies that will overcome obstacles to future growth.
About the contributors
Takashi Kodama
Takashi Kodama is the Chief Representative at the London Research Centre of Daiwa Institute of Research (DIR), and the head of emerging markets research at DIR. He has held several posts during his career spanning over 20 years as an economist at DIR, including senior regional economist at DIR Hong Kong between 1995 and 1999. Before specialising in emerging economies in 2006, his main area of expertise was the Japanese economy. His career path has taken him to the centre of several economic crises. Mr. Kodama holds a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Keio University.
Vanessa Rossi
Vanessa Rossi’s extensive experience within the private, government and academic sectors includes senior roles with several leading UK think tanks, Research Director with Swiss Bank Corporation, London (now UBS), the European Commission in Brussels and graduate research at Princeton University. She has just spent three years at Chatham House as Senior Research Fellow, prior to which she was Director of International Economics with Oxford Economics, developing economic analysis and modelling for the international economy with a particular focus on Europe, China and other emerging markets, the energy sector and financial markets. Consulting projects have included work for international organisations (the World Bank, OPEC, the ADB, WHO, WEF and WTTC), government ministries (in the US, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe) and major corporates (such as Shell, Unilever and HSBC). She is a frequent speaker at conferences and has contributed significantly to Chatham House’s global research and media profile. Ms Rossi is also co-author of a book on international financial markets and a contributor to books on European governance and on the Gulf economies.
Yosuke Kawakami (Chair)
Yosuke Kawakami was appointed Minister (Finance) at the Embassy of Japan in July 2010, where he follows developments in UK fiscal, monetary and financial policies as well as in the London financial markets and represents Japanese interests in these areas. He is on secondment from the Japanese Ministry of Finance where he served as Director in the Financial Bureau, Customs Bureau and the Minister’s Secretariat, as well as Deputy in the International Finance Bureau and Banking Bureaus. Prior to his appointment in London, he was Executive Director at the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan, where he took part in many discussions to repair the global financial safety-net in response to the 2008 financial crisis. He also has extensive overseas experience, having previously served at the IMF, OECD, and at the Embassy of Japan in Moscow in the past 26 years as well.