Manila became the gathering place for leading economists across East and Southeast Asia on November 8 and 9, 2025, as Ateneo de Manila University, together with the Philippine Economic Society, hosted the 20th East Asia Economic Association (EAEA) Conference at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Nearly 450 participants-academics, policymakers, researchers, and development practitioners-traveled from across the region, as well as from the United States and the United Kingdom, to join two days of high-level dialogue.
Their determination to participate was particularly remarkable: Typhoon Uwan swept across Luzon during the final day, yet the full program proceeded uninterrupted, and delegates remained engaged throughout. It was, in many ways, a fitting backdrop to our conference theme of resilience.
The theme, ‘Navigating Economic Transitions: Inclusion, Innovation, and Resilience in Asia,’ captured the evolving landscape that East Asia now confronts. We are in a period of profound global uncertainty- marked by shifts in the geopolitical order, disruptive technological change, heightened vulnerability to climate shocks, and widening social divides. These transitions call for new thinking and stronger regional cooperation. This year’s EAEA gathering created an important space to examine how economies across Asia can respond to these challenges while sustaining broad-based and inclusive growth.
The conference opened with the Ichimura Lecture and Keynote Address by Professor Danny Quah and former Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore. In his lecture, ‘Inadvertent Cooperation and Pathfinder Multilateralism for a G-minus World,’ he argued that even in a fragmented global system, cooperation remains possible-emerging not from sweeping agreements, but from practical, incremental alignments among countries that share common interests. His message resonated strongly with participants confronting the realities of trade tensions, global supply chain adjustments, and a weakening multilateral framework.
This was followed by the first plenary, ‘Promoting Macroeconomic Growth in a New World Order,’ where distinguished economists Jong-Wha Lee, Jomo K. Sundaram, Aaditya Mattoo, and Arsenio Balisacan examined the region’s growth prospects amid tightening financial conditions and overlapping shocks. Their insights underscored the importance of sound institutions, prudent macroeconomic management, and coordinated policy action. The second plenary, ‘Stabilization Policies and Economic Reforms Amid Global Uncertainties,’ featured Benjamin Diokno, Albert Park, Hal Hill, and Denis Suarsana, who delved into the credibility of reforms, fiscal-monetary coordination, and strategies for managing external risks.
Across the two days, the conference featured over 70 parallel and semi-plenary sessions, offering a rich variety of research and policy discussions. The breadth of topics was intentionally wide: digital transformation, labor markets, value chains, poverty and inequality, education and skills, fiscal and monetary policy, industrial strategy, climate resilience, and demographic transitions. Sessions on automation, AI, and the future of work drew strong engagement, reflecting the region’s interest in how technology will shape the next phase of development. Meanwhile, sessions on trade, global value chains, and geopolitics highlighted both the risks and opportunities created by realignments in global economic power.
The semi-plenaries on the second day added a practical policy focus. The Asian Development Bank discussed its 2025 Asian Development Policy Report on digital transformation; the World Bank presented insights from The Prosperity Blueprint on trade, skills, and fiscal policy; and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas hosted a session honoring The Mariano Legacy, tracing how sound macroeconomic institutions evolved in East Asia. Meanwhile, the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) and Ateneo’s own scholars led discussions on Asean’s economic challenges and Asia’s creative and music economies-reminders that development is as cultural as it is structural.
The success of the conference was made possible through close collaboration with our international partners-the Asian Development Bank, World Bank Group, ERIA and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and-as well as our local sponsors including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Landbank, SEAMEO INNOTECH, GT Capital Holdings and First Metro Securities. Their support ensured that the conference proceeded smoothly despite the logistics challenges brought about by the weather.
For the Philippines, hosting the EAEA for the second time since 2008 was a meaningful milestone. It allowed us to place the country at the center of regional policy dialogue and to strengthen our ties with colleagues working on the forefront of economic analysis across East Asia. It also highlighted the role of Filipino economists-across universities, government agencies, and think tanks-in contributing to regional debates.
One of the most striking aspects of EAEA20 was the commitment shown by all participants in the face of Typhoon Uwan. As strong rains lashed Metro Manila, the conference rooms remained full. Scholars continued to present, discuss, critique, and collaborate. For me as Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, this was a powerful reminder of the shared dedication within the region’s economic community. It also reflected the very resilience that our conference theme sought to underscore.
As we look ahead to the 21st EAEA Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the ideas and partnerships forged in Manila will continue to shape the research and policy conversations that matter most for the region. The challenges facing East Asia are immense -but so too is the collective capacity of our community to learn, innovate, and build solutions together. In times of global uncertainty, this spirit of collaboration is perhaps the region’s most valuable resource.