New Economy Forum: Identifying priorities to move the world economy forward

SGGP 11/08/2023 06:02

On November 8, the New Economy Forum (NEF), an annual event organized by Bloomberg Media Group of Bloomberg news agency, is scheduled to open in Singapore.

The event brings together government, business and academic leaders from around the world to discuss issues affecting the global economy.

Connect and share

According to Bloomberg, “Embracing Uncertainty” is the theme of this year’s NEF, highlighting the challenges facing the global economy, as well as the opportunity to better understand and address fundamental issues such as persistent inflation, geopolitical tensions, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and global climate change. This is the fourth time Singapore has hosted the NEF, following the inaugural event in 2018 and subsequent events in 2021 and 2022.

Taking place in late 2023, the NEF is expected to be an opportunity for public and private sector leaders to connect and share their vision for the global recovery strategy, helping to identify priorities to move the world economy forward in the coming year.

The forum was attended by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, government officials from the US, China, UAE, UK, Australia, Brazil. On the business side, there was Mr. Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Group and leaders of SABIC, Holcim, Sinovation Ventures…

Economic fragmentation is evident

The NEF is held in the context of the world economy in 2023 showing signs of slow and uneven growth, high inflation is still a difficult problem for many countries around the world.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, the global economic growth forecast is at 3% for 2023, equivalent to the forecast in July. The IMF lowered the world economic growth forecast for 2024 to 2.9%, 0.1% lower than the report released in July.

An automobile production line in the US

According to IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the global economy is slowing down, not sprinting as expected. Accordingly, forecasts generally show a “soft landing” of the global economy, but the IMF is still concerned about risks related to the real estate crisis in China, unstable commodity prices, possible inflation rising again, and the new risk of conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Global economic uncertainty has eased considerably since the IMF’s April forecast; the global outlook for 2024 faces more downside risks than upside. The probability of global growth falling below 2%, a level only seen five times since 1970, is now just 15%, down from 25% in April.

IMF statistics show that successive shocks since 2020 have cost the global economy about $3.7 trillion. Meanwhile, global growth is now much lower than the 3.8% recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic and the medium-term growth outlook is even weaker.

A worrying issue today is the growing fragmentation of the global economy. This fragmentation, manifested through protectionism, increased government export controls and political tensions, threatens global free trade and further weakens growth prospects, especially for emerging and developing economies.

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