The IV Astana Economic Forum
On May 3-4, 2011, the 4th Astana Economic Forum was attended by more than 3,500 participants from 75 countries, including Nobel laureates James Mirrlees, Robert Mundell, John Nash, Yisrael Aumann, Finn Kydland and Roger Kornberg. Also attending were leaders of the UN World Tourism Organization, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Madrid Club and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO).
Other co-organizers: the World Islamic Economic Forum, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Islamic Development Bank and the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee. Media partners were International Herald Tribune, Euronews and Economist. The Forum received wide coverage by 100 foreign and 350 local journalists.
They discussed reforming the international monetary system, food security and renewable energy, better communication between the government and private sectors and regional economic integration, green growth, tourism, small and medium sized entrepreneurship, multinational corporations.
In his welcoming remarks, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev talked about the lessons learned from the global financial crisis, the current imbalance in world trade and the state of the international monetary system.
“The existing monetary system does not adhere to the principles of legality and democracy. It mitigates the growth, distorts macroeconomic principles and prevents us from resolving global issues. To correct that, one needs to take fundamental actions, which have never been taken before,” he said.
He highlighted the need for a new reserve currency: “The defects of the international monetary system are now making some countries take practical steps to use alternative currencies. For instance, the Bolivarian Alliance member states are considering transactions using a notional unit called Sucre. The BRICS nations signed a memorandum to use reserve currencies for mutual financing.”
Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell indicated that the IMF needs to determine two currency zones and make an “anchor” for a stable currency. The professor advised the group to pay special attention to the Yuan and generally to the Chinese economy, because today’s global currency-related issues depend on financial stability of the most populous nation.
Participants attended many side events organized by local business alliances and the government authorities. These included the Innovative Congress and Eurasian Business Congress organized by the National Innovation Fund and Atameken Union National Economic Chamber hosted by the mayor’s office.
By tradition, the Forum was concluded with the issuance of an open letter to the leaders of the G-20 member states called “The Astana Consensus” (Please click on the link for the full text of the document). Its key messages are based on recommendations about how to reform the world economy, develop the global currency, enhance the monetary system, reform international financial institutions, support international investments and trade, improve food security and develop the “green economy.”
It was also decided to set up Astana club of the Nobel Prize laureates. Its goal would be to encourage their meeting in Astana. Currently the Club includes seven Nobel laureates and its membership is set to expand.
The 5th Astana Economic Forum will be held in Astana on May 23, 2012.
