About the Office for Asia and the Pacific (OAP)

The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (OAP) is one of the IMF's major regional offices around the world. It was established in 1997 in Tokyo with the help of Japan, and now serves as a critical outpost in the Asia-Pacific region of 37 member countries including a few emerging economies. Its presence offers testimony to the substantial and growing importance of the region in the global economy. OAP facilitates coordination between IMF headquarters and those member countries and promotes the IMF's various initiatives in the region through the following key activities.

What we do

  • Economic surveillance and policy adviceOAP monitors economic developments and regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region, and provides advice on macroeconomic policies through:
    • Contribution to bilateral economic policy discussions with Japan and other Asian countries
    • Regional fora such as ASEAN+3 and APEC meetings for regional policy coordination
  • Capacity development: OAP helps train officials engaged in fiscal and monetary policymaking in the Asia-Pacific region through:
    • The Japan-IMF Scholarship Program for Asia (JISPA) for young officials from the region pursuing graduate studies in macroeconomics at Japanese universities
    • Seminars, conferences and short training programs for Asian policymakers
  • OutreachOAP shares economic analysis, data and policy recommendations with stakeholders, and promotes widely the IMF’s overall activities through:
    • “Economic Issues Seminars”, workshops and conferences for experts
    • “Macroeconomist Training Program” for students
    • Communications work via the media, website, social media and interactive events