{ "title": "To Share and to Learn", "publication": "IMF News, December 8, 2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn", "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/index.md", "summary": "Remarks by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF", "publishDate": "2025-12-08", "sections": [ { "heading": "Opening and purpose of the Center", "content": "- The Center is presented as a hub where \"global expertise and local knowledge\" come together to strengthen IMF engagement with the Asia and Pacific region.\n- Purpose: promote cross-fertilization of ideas, enhance appreciation of Asian perspectives within the IMF, bridge IMF headquarters economists and economic scholars in Asia, and serve as a hub to promote policy-relevant research focused on middle income and emerging market economies.\n- Emphasis on producing \"top-quality macroeconomic research to inform and guide good policymaking\" and on strengthening policy engagement across the IMF’s 191 member countries." }, { "heading": "Asia’s past growth drivers and structural change", "content": "- Three factors identified as powering Asia’s historical growth performance:\n - An expanding labor force (now receding).\n - Governments stepping out of economic activity to make room for the private sector.\n - Reallocation of workers and production from lower-productivity sectors (agriculture) to higher-productivity sectors (manufacturing and services).\n- Structural change statistic:\n - The share of workers employed in agriculture has fallen \"from almost 60 percent in 1990 to well below 30 percent today.\"\n- Outcome: \"a record decline in poverty and a better life for billions.\"" }, { "heading": "Research agenda and key questions for the Center", "content": "- Overarching goal: help countries navigate transformations to build resilience, preserve stability, and promote growth through policy-relevant research.\n- Three priority research questions highlighted:\n 1. How can the business environment be improved to unleash the full potential of the private sector?\n - Focus on cutting red tape, easing regulatory barriers, and removing outdated regulations; research to inform reform priorities and sequencing.\n 2. How can we make the best use of new technologies, including in the financial sector?\n - Need to balance innovation with safeguarding financial stability.\n - Artificial intelligence: \"AI can boost growth by 0.1‒0.8 percentage points per year\" (with policy emphasis on ensuring broad-based gains and mitigating labor market dislocations).\n 3. How can countries maintain trade as an engine of growth amid a shifting global trade landscape?\n - Importance of reforms that deepen regional integration.\n - Example estimate: \"reducing non-tariff barriers could lift GDP by 1.8 percent in the long run.\"\n- Additional research theme: how specific reforms interact, especially given Asia’s \"triple transformation\"—shifting demographics, a new trade landscape, and the advent of artificial intelligence—and how policies should adapt to their confluence." }, { "heading": "Policy implications and recommendations", "content": "- Strengthen private sector-led productivity growth through:\n - Reforming the business environment: cut red tape, ease regulatory barriers, remove outdated regulations.\n - Pursue resource reallocation across sectors to raise productivity.\n- Manage technological adoption to maximize benefits while protecting stability and workers:\n - Strike a balance between allowing innovation and safeguarding financial stability.\n - Ensure AI gains are broad-based through appropriate policy measures.\n- Deepen regional integration and address impediments to trade:\n - Identify and reduce non-tariff barriers to unlock potential GDP gains.\n- Use research to guide reform sequencing and to illuminate interactions among policies under the \"triple transformation.\"" }, { "heading": "Key statistics and exact figures from the remarks", "content": "- IMF membership: 191 member countries.\n- Agriculture employment share: \"from almost 60 percent in 1990 to well below 30 percent today.\"\n- AI growth impact: \"AI can boost growth by 0.1‒0.8 percentage points per year.\"\n- Potential GDP gain from reducing non-tariff barriers in Asia: \"1.8 percent in the long run.\"\n- Date of remarks: December 7, 2025.\n\nRemarks by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF — December 7, 2025.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva\n- People's Republic of China and the IMF\n- Speeches\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: December 8, 2025", "The Center is presented as a hub where \"global expertise and local knowledge\" come together to strengthen IMF engagement with the Asia and Pacific region.", "Purpose: promote cross-fertilization of ideas, enhance appreciation of Asian perspectives within the IMF, bridge IMF headquarters economists and economic scholars in Asia, and serve as a hub to promote policy-relevant research focused on middle income and emerging market economies.", "Emphasis on producing \"top-quality macroeconomic research to inform and guide good policymaking\" and on strengthening policy engagement across the IMF’s 191 member countries.", "Three factors identified as powering Asia’s historical growth performance:", "Structural change statistic:", "Outcome: \"a record decline in poverty and a better life for billions.\"", "Overarching goal: help countries navigate transformations to build resilience, preserve stability, and promote growth through policy-relevant research.", "Three priority research questions highlighted:", "Additional research theme: how specific reforms interact, especially given Asia’s \"triple transformation\"—shifting demographics, a new trade landscape, and the advent of artificial intelligence—and how policies should adapt to their confluence.", "Strengthen private sector-led productivity growth through:", "Manage technological adoption to maximize benefits while protecting stability and workers:", "Deepen regional integration and address impediments to trade:", "Use research to guide reform sequencing and to illuminate interactions among policies under the \"triple transformation.\"", "IMF membership: 191 member countries.", "Agriculture employment share: \"from almost 60 percent in 1990 to well below 30 percent today.\"", "AI growth impact: \"AI can boost growth by 0.1‒0.8 percentage points per year.\"", "Potential GDP gain from reducing non-tariff barriers in Asia: \"1.8 percent in the long run.\"", "Date of remarks: December 7, 2025.", "[https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva)", "[People's Republic of China and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/CHN/index.htm)", "[Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2025/12/08/sp-120825-to-share-and-to-learn/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-26T04:19:34.886Z" }