Meeting participants (from left to right): Blake Berger, Kanti Bajpai, Tomoo Kikuchi, Selina Ho, Khong Yuen Foong, James Crabtree, Alisée Pornet, and Emmanuel Comolet.
On 9 November 2017, CAG welcomed two visitors from the French development agency, AFD, who were visiting Singapore on a research trip. Mr Emmanuel Comolet, economist, and Ms Alisée Pornet, analyst, met key members of the CAG research team led by Professor Kanti Bajpai.
The meeting dealt with connectivity in Asia and focused on Chinese, Indian, and Japanese projects in the region but especially China’s Belt and Route Initiative (BRI). CAG presented an overview of the various connectivity efforts planned for Southeast Asia. The two sides shared thoughts on the drivers, viability, and potential consequences of these massive projects.