On June 20^th, 2011, SPPM welcomed back Mr. Rajat M. Nag, Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for his second visit to the School. Mr. Nag made his first visit to SPPM last year. On this visit hosted by Prof. Qi Ye, Mr. Nag delivered an engaging lecture entitled: “The Asian Century: Plausible but not Preordained.” The audience members included students from the IMPA 2010 class, MID 2010 class, and visiting students from Peking University and the National Defense University (NDU).

Mr. Nag began his lecture by congratulating Tsinghua University on its 100^th anniversary celebrated this year. Drawing from the ADB report “Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century,” Mr. Nag pinpointed several factors that could help create the “Asian Century”. An additional 3 billion Asians could enjoy higher living standards, and the region could account for over half of global output by the middle of this century, if the region follows a few guideposts. These include inclusive growth, environmental sustainability, technology and innovation, good governance, and greater regional cooperation. Taking action along these lines will help the Asian region avoid the “middle income trap” of a development plateau where countries such as the Philippines and Brazil in South America have become caught.

The report’s conclusion is that the Asian Century is plausible, if the region is cognizant of the factors contributing towards development growth and sustainability, but it is certainly not preordained. A lively question-and-answer period followed, with questions posed by IMPA, MID and NDU students. Mr. Nag and his team were presented with gifts by Prof. Qi Ye demarking Tsinghua’s Centennial Celebration.