International Workshop “Economic Adjustment After the 2008 Financial Crisis: International Experiences and Policy Implications”

The world has been shaken by the 2008 recession that nearly triggered a second global recession. This massive recession, in addition to its devastating consequences, has sparked serious debates on modern economics with battles between schools of thought. Over time, this crisis, like other economic crises, will pass, but like other crises, it has left serious consequences for the entire world economy in general and the affected national economies in particular. Countries, regions and economies have all had to deal with the financial crisis at different levels.

For Vietnam, the global economic crisis has slowed down our country's economic growth rate, GDP growth is at over 8% per year, in 2008 it reached 6.28% and in 2009 it only reached 5.32%, the lowest in the past 10 years. The added value of many industries is much lower than in previous years, exports and tourism have decreased sharply. Many macro balances of the economy are not really stable. The state budget deficit in 2009 was at the highest level in the past decades (6.9% of GDP) and monetary and credit policies were loosened, causing inflation to rise to 20% at the end of 2008.

The workshop “Economic adjustment after the 2008 financial crisis: International experiences and policy implications” was held to review the causes, impacts and solutions to cope with the 2008 economic crisis in each country and region, including Vietnam. The workshop brought together 12 presentations by policy makers, Vietnamese and international scientists revolving around various topics about the 2008 financial crisis.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh delivered the opening speech at the conference (Photo: Thanh Ha)

After the opening session, the workshop was divided into two sessions with the following content:

Session 1: “Global Economic Review” with presentations such as: “IMF’s Global Economic Study after the 2008 Financial Crisis: Lessons from Recent Recovery Cases” by Dr. Sanjay Kalra (International Monetary Fund, Washington DC); “Adjusting the EU’s New FTA Policy and Its Impact on Vietnam” by Associate Professor Dr. Cu Chi Loi (Institute for American Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences); “Economic and Social Impact of Abenomics” by Associate Professor Dr. Hideyuki Miura (Faculty of Policy Studies, Kyorin University, Japan).

Session 2: “Implications for the economy and Vietnam’s adjustments” with presentations such as: “The world economy and Vietnam after economic policy adjustments to overcome the crisis” by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam); “Korea’s experience and policy implications in the financial crisis” by Dr. Doan Duy Khuong (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)); “Some suggestions for Vietnam’s economic adjustments” by Dr. Sanjay Kalra (International Monetary Fund, Washington DC).