The session "Review of the AIFC research projects" was held within the Astana Finance Days 2021 conference with participation of NES Rector, Professor Ruben Enikolopov and NES President and Co-Director of the China-Russia Eurasian Studies Center (CREC), Professor Shlomo Weber. As part of the discussions, experts presented several current projects and plans for future initiatives.
Ruben Enikolopov presented the activities and plans of CREC, a joint initiative of NES, SKOLKOVO School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Guangzhou. He pointed out that the center aims to become a leading research and education platform in the region and the support of AIFC will allow CREC to expand cooperation between countries and contribute to the development of science on the Eurasian continent. Its main research areas include comparative studies of the Eurasian region and the challenges it is facing, technological development, trade and investment, as well as energy and environment.
Shlomo Weber announced two initiatives to be carried out by CREC together with the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) through their joint office in Nur-Sultan. One is the Eurasian Banking and Finance Technical Cooperation Network which would involve central bankers from the countries of the region to address their common challenges and to highlight their role of agents of change in developing countries. The Research Mentoring Program in Economics will support economic research by advanced PhD students and other junior scholars and researchers from Eurasia, Central Asia, the Caucasus countries and beyond, engaging senior scholars from outside institutions. The two projects will be interrelated and working hand in hand.
Harvard University Professor Ricardo Hausmann presented a work on economic growth diagnostics, answering questions: what will enable countries to speed up economic growth and how to achieve economic diversification?
The session also announced the launch of an online investment project platform that focuses on assessing Silk Road Economic Belt investment projects seeking to raise finance. The project aims to increase efficiency in the search for investment opportunities by investors and the attraction of financing by project initiators.
