The International Finance Forum (IFF) hosted an academic workshop on the theme of the ‘Future of the Bretton Woods Institutions’ on October 21.

The one-hour online event staged against the backdrop of the upcoming 80th anniversary annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank discussed the future of these Bretton Woods institutions, and featured a presentation on the Bretton Woods @80 Initiative by Lord Mark Malloch Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations and Former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is playing a key role as a member of the group of global external advisors to guide this effort. Working with the leadership of the IMF and the World Bank, the Bretton Woods @80 Initiative is consulting with a broad range of stakeholders to review the long-term forces that will shape the future of the global economy, ascertain how multilateralism may evolve, and what this might mean for the role and work of the IMF and World Bank in the period ahead.

The discussion started off with a warm-up and preparation phase,  with introductory remarks by Moderator Lin Jianhai, IFF Executive Vice President and Former IMF Secretary, followed by Lord Mark Malloch-Brown’s presentation, and his replies to a question-and-answer session with the online audience, before concluding with closing remarks.

Among the questions asked were: What kinds of ‘scenarios’ should be taken into account when thinking about the future of the global economy? Which lessons from the past 80 years can be drawn upon to help better navigate these future challenges? How can the Bretton Woods Institutions be better equipped and - as needed - reformed to bolster international cooperation and serve their global membership even more effectively in a vastly more complex and challenging world than the one in which they were established 80 years ago?

Here is a link to the press release on ‘IMF and World Bank Group Announce Joint Bretton Woods at 80 Initiative’