Pooling the Wisdom from South and North
Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice to Advance Structural Transformation
GReCEST Inaugural Conference Held at Peking University
More than 100 researchers, practitioners and policy makers from research institutes, think tanks, international organizations and development agencies, foreign embassies in Beijing, as well as Chinese government officials convened at Peking University on Dec. 13 and 14, 2016 to attend the Inaugural Conference of the Global Research Consortium on Economic Structural Transformation (GReCEST).
During the two-day conference, Consortium members deliberated and agreed on the Consortium bylaws and the work plan for 2017. Nine thematically-focused working groups were established, centering critical topics concerning economic structural transformation including rural and agricultural transformation, special economic zones, global value chain and industrial policy, green transformation, innovation and structural transformation, development cooperation partnerships and financing for development, labor market, youth employment and data and measurement of structural transformation. Researches and practices will be carried out around these themes, and findings will be presented at the 2nd annual conference, scheduled to be held at the end of 2017.
Initiated by the Center for New Structural Economics (CNSE) at Peking University, with support from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), the GReCEST aims at building an open platform for advancing frontier thinking, innovative practices and mutual learning on economic structural transformation.
Launched on May 18, 2016 with 33 founding members from all over the world, the GReCEST serves as one of the priority areas under the umbrella of the Global Coalition of the Network of Southern Think Tanks, co-convened by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
Qiangwu Zhou, Director General of the International Economics and Finance Institute, Ministry of Finance, P.R. China; Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the UNOSSC; and Agi Veres, UNDP China Country Director, addressed the opening ceremony.
According to Director Chediek, South-South cooperation is at its core an acknowledgement that no one country, region, or one group of people hold a monopoly over knowledge or experience, and a realization that in order to meet the 2030 development agenda we will need to foster innovative ideas and practices from developing countries.
(Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the UNOSSC, addressing the openning ceremony)
“We intend for the GReCEST to advance the research agenda on the various pathways to development, in order to understand how and why certain countries are able to shift from low-productivity to high productivity activities and in the process helping lift their population out of poverty,” he said.
“The GReCEST, and the wider Coalition of Southern Think Tank Networks, will be an important tool for advancing the exchange of these ideas and furthering research into additional alternative models for development,” he added.“In this way, the GReCEST is an example of South-South cooperation in action.”
Building on the recognition of the South-South cooperation as an increasingly relevant approach to development cooperation, Ms. Veres from the UNDP emphasized that the process of “how” is as important as the basic “why” and “what” questions, and that many developing and emerging economies could learn valuable lessons from feedback loops between researchers and policy-makers.
(Agi Veres, UNDP China Country Director, addressing the opening ceremony)
“Successful structural changes can be achieved through technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and economic diversification, but also sustainable and equitable social and human development,” she said.
“These are necessary and critical experiences for developing countries to learn from each other. The GReCEST will serve as a great medium for such mutual learning among relevant stakeholders.”
(Qiangwu Zhou, Director General of the International Economics and Finance Institute of MoF, addressing the opening ceremony)
Mr. Zhou from the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China, commended the role that the GReCEST plays in promoting developing countries to participate more profoundly in, and exert greater influence on the global economic governance. “I believe the GReCEST will become a valuable attempt to pool the wisdom from both the North and South for implementing the 2030 development agenda”, he said.
Justin Yifu Lin, Chair of the GReCEST and Director of the CNSE; Shenggen Fan, Vice-Chair of the GReCEST and Director General of the IFPRI; K. Y. Amoako, Vice-Chair of the GReCEST and President of the ACET; and Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony.
(Justin Yifu Lin, Chair of the GReCEST and Director of the CNSE, delivering keynote speech)
Lin shared the vision of New Structural Economics (NSE) as a theoretical and policy framework for achieving sustainable and inclusive economic transformation. Fan emphasized technological innovation and policy innovation as two pillars in achieving rural and agricultural transformation.
(Shenggen Fan, Vice-Chair of the GReCEST and Director General of the IFPRI, delivering keynote speech)
(K. Y. Amoako, Vice-Chair of the GReCEST and President of the ACET, delivering keynote speech)
Amoako highlighted the role the GReCEST will play in promoting economic transformation through analysis, advice and advocacy. Tumusiime envisioned how collaboration with China in several areas of mutual interest will significantly contribute to agricultural growth and transformation in Africa.
(Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the AUC, delivering keynote speech)
The Inaugural Conference of the GReCEST was a resounding success – a testament to the crucial role of economic structural transformation in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The end of the Inaugural Conference also marks the beginning of dedicated endeavors to bridge the gap between research and practice to advance structural transformation.
