EPoD will hosted Yasuyuki Sawada, Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank, in a public event at Harvard Kennedy School on April 17. The event, “Towards a Disaster-Resilient Asia: A Conversation with Yasuyuki Sawada", was held in collaboration with the HKS PhD Program and feature an introduction by EPoD Faculty Director Rema Hanna, as well as an interactive discussion with the audience led by Director of EPoD Research Ammar Malik.

Photos from the event have been published in a Flickr album. EPoD will post a video of the event soon.

More about the event

Dr. Sawada was visiting North America to launch ADB’s flagship publication “Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019”, which provides a comprehensive analysis of macroeconomic issues in developing Asia. In addition, the ADO 2019 contains a theme chapter “Towards a Disaster-Resilient Asia” which shows that disasters, including their causes and consequences, are shaped by the dynamics of the economy, society, and environment in which they occur. The report analyzes the circumstances under which disaster risks are reduced or amplified by market mechanisms (including insurance and supply chains), by government action (including infrastructure investment, early warning systems, and recovery assistance), as well as through the actions of individuals and communities. Dr. Sawada’s presentation will address the economic prospects for developing Asia and the Pacific, implications of the trade conflict, and policies to improve disaster resilience in developing Asia and the Pacific.

More about the speaker
Dr. Yasuyuki Sawada's is the chief spokesperson for ADB on economic and development trends, and leads the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, which publishes ADB's flagship knowledge products. He previously served as a Professor in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and he also performed research at a variety of institutions, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute; the World Bank; Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia; Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies; Pakistan Institute of Development Economics; International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines; International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka; Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry in Japan; and Japan Society of Promotion of Science. Dr. Sawada has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers on topics such as microeconometrics, economics of disasters, and field surveys and experiments pertaining to Asia and other developing countries.