Economic security in a turbulent world

The tension between security and prosperity is greater now than it has been in generations. Governments, societies and businesses face complex, intersecting risks from rising geopolitical tensions and economic fragmentation, while simultaneously navigating profound revolutions in energy and digital technologies.

Policies being implemented in Washington, Beijing, Brussels, Tokyo and elsewhere reflect assumptions starkly different from those that propelled ever deeper globalisation over recent decades, as more and more nations seek to “de-risk” areas of economic vulnerability and build strategic and competitive advantage in key sectors and technologies.

Several governments have adopted formal “economic security” strategies and old boundaries that separated national security and international economic policy have largely dissolved. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have further accelerated the search for national resilience and economic security in global capitals.

This first-of-its-kind conference in Australia brought together experts and senior officials working on an ever-expanding economic security agenda that encompasses industrial policy in strategic industries, supply chain resilience measures, energy security, critical technologies policy, economic sanctions, export controls, investment screening and anti-economic coercion measures.

Economic security in a turbulent world highlighted the policy choices and trade-offs facing governments and businesses as they seek to manage risk and build resilience in the face of increasing geopolitical instability and economic volatility.

Speakers

Alan Beattie

Senior Trade Writer at the Financial Times

Dr Steven Kennedy PSM

Secretary to the Australian Treasury

Dr Elizabeth Economy

Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University

Professor Yoo Myung-hee

Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University

Jan Adams AO PSM

Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Tadashi Maeda

Chairman of the Board for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation

The Honourable Mathias Cormann

Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Andrew Shearer

Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence

Dr Kazuto Suzuki

Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo and Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at the International House of Japan

Emily Kilcrease

Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for New American Security

Dr Daniel Yergin

Vice Chairman of S&P Global

Ziad Haider

Partner and Global Director of Geopolitical Risk at McKinsey & Company

David Fredericks PSM

Secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Sally Auld

Chief Investment Officer at JBWere

Dr Yunjong Wang

Deputy National Security Advisor for Economic and Cyber Security in the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea

Jonathan Fritz

Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, US Department of State

Yasuo Takamura

Cabinet Counsellor, National Security Secretariat, Government of Japan

Meghan Quinn PSM

Secretary, Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Denis Redonnet

Deputy Director-General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, Directorate-General for Trade, European Commission

Dr Richard McGregor

Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute

Neville Power

Chairman of Future Battery Minerals, Deputy Chairman of Strike Energy and former Chair of the Australian Government’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission

Tania Constable PSM

Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Council of Australia

Paul Everingham

Chief Executive Officer, Asia Natural Gas & Energy Association

George Mina

Deputy Secretary, Trade and Investment Group, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Meg McDonald

Non-Resident Senior FellowUnited States Studies Centre

Mike Yeh

Regional Vice President, Corporate External and Legal Affairs, Microsoft Asia

Senator Dave Sharma

Senator for New South Wales

The Honourable Arthur Sinodinos AO

Former Australian Ambassador to the United States

Matthew Warren

Principal at Boardroom Energy

Agenda

With support from the Australian Government

Major partners

Media partner