This year’s conference will examine a rapidly changing world, where a complex web of global challenges – debt, climate, inequality – converge in an era marked by fragmentation and strategic competition. Geopolitical dynamics and global influence are rapidly rebalancing toward a multipolar world. In the decades ahead, profound demographic shifts – an estimated doubling of Africa’s population and reduction in advanced economies – will change labor market dynamics and create opportunities for the Global South to be the significant driver of global growth. These trends foretell a future where emerging players from Asia, Africa, and Latin America wield unprecedented influence over the global economy and the international order.
This juncture is more than an opportunity—it’s a mandate for action. It compels us to enhance the efficacy of the multilateral order and to foster more effective international collaboration. As the Global South ascends, pivotal questions arise: How can international financial institutions be strengthened and reformed to support the corresponding imperatives of climate action, poverty alleviation, sustainable growth, and development? How can access to finance be made more effective, efficient, and inclusive to help ensure that burgeoning economies and marginalized communities have a more equitable share and stake in the global economic fabric? How can emerging economies and developing nations harness their voice to reshape the global governance architecture?
The conference will explore the breadth of proposed multilateral reform strategies, including from the G20, the Bridgewater Initiative, the BWC itself and others, to effectively navigate fragmentation and propose a stronger multilateral framework that better responds to 21st century challenges, including the growing needs of the Global South.
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Tuesday, October 10
1:30 – 2:00 PM WEST — On-site Registration
2:00 – 2:05 PM WEST — Welcome Remarks
- William C. Dudley, Chair, BWC
2:05 – 3:30 PM WEST — Strengthening International Cooperation in a Fragmenting Global Economy
This session is jointly organized by the Bretton Woods Committee, International Finance Forum and Center for Global Development
Opening Remarks: Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Panel:
- Masood Ahmed, President, Center for Global Development
- Vera Songwe, Chair of the Board, Liquidity and Sustainability Facility
- Axel Weber, Former Chairman, UBS Group AG
- Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
- Danny Alexander, Vice President of Policy and Strategy, AIIB
- Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times (Moderator)
3:30 – 4:15 PM WEST — In Conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva
- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
- William C. Dudley, Chair, BWC (Moderator)
4:15 – 5:45 PM WEST — Reforming the International Financial Architecture for Global Challenges
Opening Remarks: Alexia Latortue, Assistant Secretary, International Trade and Development, U.S. Treasury
Panel:
- Axel Weber, Co-Chair, Multilateral Reform Working Group, Bretton Woods Committee
- Siddharth Tiwari, Fellow, Chatham House; Senior Advisor to India’s G20 Sherpa; Vice-President, International Finance Forum (IFF)
- Zhengxin Zhang, Executive Director for People’s Republic of China, International Monetary Fund
- José Vinals, Group Chairman, Standard Chartered
- Emily Slater, Executive Director, BWC (Moderator)
5:45 – 7:00 PM WEST — Cocktail Reception