Date: September 16, 2008

Time: 12:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Venue: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.

Sponsored By: New Rules for Global Finance

Financial Support from: Connect US, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Ford Foundation and Heinrich Boell Foundation

Agenda

12:00: Lunch

12:30: Presentations and discussion

Panelists

Africa

• George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister (Planning), Ghana.
• This participant confirmed participation, but did not end up participating because his president was in Washington, DC at the time. Jo Marie Griesgraber stepped in to give the Africa meeting report.

Central Asia

• Mr. Chorobek Imashev, Former Deputy Finance Minister, Kyrgyz Republic

Latin America

• Mr. Arturo O’Connell, Board Member and Senior Advisor, Central, Bank of Argentina

Middle East

• Dr. Jihad Al-Wazir, Governor, Palestine Monetary Authority

• Dr. Anne Krueger, Former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF
• Dr. Daniel Tarullo, Esq, Senior Campaign Economic Advisor and Professor of Law, Georgetown University and Advisor to the Obama Campaign

*All panelists will speak in their personal capacities.

Related Documents

• Bringing Balance to the IMF - Program
• Issues and Recommendations: Bringing Balance to the IMF Reform Debate, September 9, 2008
• Press Release: Developing Countries Call For IMF Reforms, September 16, 2008
• Regional Reports

Background:

There is almost universal agreement that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in need of reform. The IMF is in dire financial straits, which undermines its effectiveness in monitoring international financial stability, in aiding members to address key economic issues, and in providing technical expertise to finance ministries and central banks. Many countries also are reluctant to work with the IMF, regarding it as doctrinaire, responsive only to its large shareholders, and a political liability. Yet, in a world of globalized financial markets, the IMF’s work is more crucial than ever

In order to restore the effectiveness and legitimacy of the Fund in the eyes of a critical mass of its membership, the IMF needs a reformed governance structure and operational approach. The debate over the specific content and methodology of a reform package, however, has been centered in the Europe and North America – the IMF’s largest shareholders. By contrast, the developing countries, with roughly half the world’s GDP, the majority of the people, and now the largest reserves, have provided little input. Consequently, New Rules for Global Finance, a non-partisan coalition, launched a groundbreaking initiative to provide countries throughout the developing world with an opportunity to outline their priorities for a reformed IMF.

The initiative, entitled Bringing Balance to the IMF Reform Debate began with a series of regional meetings in Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The meetings, held between March-May 2008, brought together finance ministers, central bankers, and senior advisors from their regions. The policy-makers elaborated their priorities for a reformed IMF in terms of its role, core functions, and governance structure. On September 16, 2008, high-level representatives from each region will gather at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. to present their findings and discuss possible synergies.

No IMF reform process can succeed without the support of the United States. Consequently, New Rules has invited Dr. Anne Krueger and Mr. Daniel Tarullo who have both given advice to the presidential campaigns.

Partners in this initiative are the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Global Economic Governance Programme at Oxford University. Regional partners included Debt Relief International, Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University, CASE-Kyrgyzstan, and Peking University. Financial support for the initiative was provided by CIGI, the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Oxfam/Novib, Open Society Institute. Additional funding for this meeting has been provided by Connect US, CIGI, and Heinrich Boell Foundation.

Panelist Biographies

Jihad K. Alwazir is currently the Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA). Previously Dr. Alwazir was Deputy Governor and Member of the board of the PMA. Prior to that, he served in senior positions in several Palestinian Ministries including Foreign Affairs, Planning, and Finance. Well known for his reformist approach to Palestinian political and economic development, Dr. Alwazir was appointed by the late President Arafat as Assistant Deputy Minister for Planning and International Cooperation and later by President Mahmoud Abbas as permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning. Previously, as Founder and Managing Director of the World Trade Centre Palestine, Dr. Alwazir was elected as a member of the Board of the Palestinian Businessmen Association in Gaza in. He was also a member of the Board of the Palestinian Industrial and Free Trade Zones Agency (PIFZA), and was Director of the Palestinian Authority’s Government Computer Centre, as well as the Founder and Chairman of the first Palestinian Internet Naming Authority. Dr. Alwazir holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Loughborough University, in the United Kingdom.

Jo Marie Griesgraber is the Executive Director of the New Rules for Global Finance Coalition, a Washington-based international network of activists and researchers concerned with reforms of the international financial architecture. Previously, Dr. Griesgraber was Director of Policy at Oxfam America where she supervised advocacy programs on international trade, humanitarian response, global funding for basic education and extractive industries. Before that, she directed the Rethinking Bretton Woods Project at the Center of Concern, a Jesuit related social justice research center, where she worked on reform of the World Bank, regional development banks and International Monetary Fund. She has taught political science at Georgetown University, Goucher College and American University, and was Deputy Director of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights lobby office. Dr. Griesgraber received her Ph.D. in political science from Georgetown University and her B.A. in history from the University of Dayton, OH.

George Gyan-Baffour is the Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning at the Ministry of Finance, Ghana and Member of Parliament for Wenchi. Formerly Hon Prof.. Gyan-Baffour was the Executive Director and Technical advisor to the National Development and Planning Commission in Ghana.

Chorobek Imashev is currently an institutional and economic expert working on various projects in the Kyrgyz Republic. Previously Mr. Imashev served as a deputy Minister of Finance and Economy, Kyrgyz Republic in charge for international and development affairs, including country program with IMF, WB and other institutions. Mr. Imashev worked for the International Monetary Fund from 1993-1998 in the office of the Executive Director for Switzerland and as an Economist in the European II Department. He participated in preparation of IMF programs for some countries of the former Soviet Union. Mr. Imashev also directly participated in the introduction of the national currency in Kyrgyz Republic after gaining independence. Chorobek Imashev received his education as an economist in the Kyrgyz Republic and has participated in several post graduate programs and trainings in Russia, US, Japan, and China.

Anne O. Krueger served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2006. Before coming to the Fund, Dr. Krueger was the Herald L. and Caroline L. Ritch Professor in Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. She was also the founding Director of Stanford's Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform; and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution. Dr. Krueger had previously taught at the University of Minnesota and Duke University and, from 1982 to 1986, was the World Bank's Vice President for Economics and Research. She received her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Krueger is a Distinguished Fellow and past President of the American Economic Association, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Beginning in the spring of 2007, she assumed the position of professor of international economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.

Arturo O’Connell is currently a Board Member and Senior Advisor at the Central Bank of Argentina. Previous positions held by Mr. O’Connell include Director, Masters Program in Latin American Integration at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de la Universidad de Buenos Aires; Director, Centro de Economía Internacional del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de la Rep. Argentina; and Secretary General, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales. Mr. O’Connell completed his studies of economics and mathematics at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and his postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain.

John W. Sewell is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. He is the former president of the Overseas Development Council (ODC), an international policy research institution with a mandate to improve multilateral decision making in order to promote more effective development and the better management of related global problems. Mr. Sewell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served as the Vice-Chair of the Board of the International Center for Research on Women

Daniel K. Tarullo is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He teaches in the areas of international economic regulation, banking law, and international law. Professor Tarullo is the Co-Chair of the Obama campaign's Economy, Globalization and Trade Policy Committee. Professor Tarullo held several senior positions in the Clinton administration, ultimately as Assistant to the President for International Economic Policy, responsible for coordinating the international economic policy of the administration. Professor Tarullo practiced law in Washington and served as Chief Counsel for Employment Policy on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Earlier in his career he worked in the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, served as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of Commerce, and taught at Harvard Law School. Professor Tarullo graduated from the is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He teaches in the areas of international economic regulation, banking law, and international law. Professor Tarullo is the Co-Chair of the Obama campaign's Economy, Globalization and Trade Policy Committee. Professor Tarullo held several senior positions in the Clinton administration, ultimately as Assistant to the President for International Economic Policy, responsible for coordinating the international economic policy of the administration. Professor Tarullo practiced law in Washington and served as Chief Counsel for Employment Policy on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Earlier in his career he worked in the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, served as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of Commerce, and taught at Harvard Law School. Professor Tarullo graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. He received his A.B. from Georgetown University and completed an M.A. at Duke University.