The Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India is a flagship and best-selling bi-annual publication on regional economic growth and development in Emerging Asia – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, together with China and India.

On the launch of the 2021 edition of the Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India: Reallocating resources for digitalisation, the OECD Tokyo Centre will hold a webinar “COVID-19 Recovery Momentum and the Future of Digitalisation”, in cooperation with the OECD Development Centre. The widespread downturn from the pandemic has triggered an economic and social shock that is expected to last into 2021 and potentially even beyond.

In this webinar, speakers will present key findings of the report and discuss the importance of reallocating resources to digitalization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with prominent speakers from Asia. As the shape of the recovery will depend on how governments balance competing health and monetary and fiscal objectives, we will highlight some policy options for improving the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy responses in the region.

Strategic initiatives are needed for countries to adapt to a post-pandemic world. The development of digital health and e-learning, together with Industry 4.0 during the pandemic has been tremendous. The webinar will zoom in on these developments and focus on areas where more policy work is necessary.