Sustaining Global Value Chains

The Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) together with Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum), Center for Asian Studies and Stockholm Sustainable Finance Centre (SSFC) cordially invite you to join a hybrid seminar together with Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist at Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He will present (in person) the Asian Infrastructure Finance 2021 report: Sustaining Global Value Chains. Berglöf will share the report’s conclusions on the nexus between supply chains and infrastructure development, highlighting the policies and investment needed to improve global value chains (GVCs) post pandemic.

COVID-19 and the Impact of Disruption to Global Value Chains

In early 2020, the sudden emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) brought first health and then economic shocks of such unprecedented scale and impact that the global community’s ability to withstand them has been severely tested. As these shocks hit country after country, virtually all industries and the flow of goods worldwide were disrupted. The impact of disruption to GVCs on normal business and people’s lives has never been so acutely felt.

The Asian Infrastructure Finance 2021 Report

Berglöf together with co-authors examines how Asian economies, to different extents and in different ways, have integrated global value chains (GVCs) into their growth models. The report emphasizes how critical infrastructure quality and capacity are to the agility and resilience of GVCs, as examined against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased trade tensions, rapid technological development, environmental pressures, and other factors. Using case studies and research, the AIF 2021 report illustrates how GVCs provide opportunities for countries and companies to become internationally competitive, in part through technological advancements and efficiency improvements. The report also highlights how GVC firms can drive decarbonization across countries and sectors and how green infrastructure, consistent with net zero transition, will become a source of competitive advantage and the key to sustaining future GVCs.

Erik Berglöf

Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and former director at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. Berglöf is the AIIB’s inaugural Chief Economist. Prior to joining the Bank in September 2020, he was Director of the Institute of Global Affairs, London School of Economics, and Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 2006 to 2015, where he was part of creating and co-led the Vienna Initiative, a European crisis response team credited with mitigating the impact of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. He is an expert in transition economics and institutional transformation through private sector development. Berglöf is also the former Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics and a former Professor at Stockholm School of Economics.