Just working my brain - the IMF

Just working my brain instead of writing some crappy stuff in my blog like I always do, below is - however still pretty crappy - this thing about the upcoming IMF meeting in Singapore that I would just love to sink my thoughts in. So read on BUT only if you bother to :)

Checked out the IMF homepage yesterday and I found this: ‘2006 Annual Meetings: Singapore, September 19-20, 2006’ printed tiny on the ‘highlights’ section of the IMF external website. I have somehow forgotten, or more accurately, not even cared when exactly the dates the meeting will be conducted here. All I know is the IMF meeting in Singapore will be a string of days sometime in September as I recalled seeing some reminders about road closure on Robinson Rd one day when I went to pick Kenji up from work. So I checked out the IMF homepage just for self-assurance after all those IMF-related ads and reminders that keep appearing not only on streets but also on TV in between programs here in Singapore.

And I was quite surprised to learn that the meeting is only going to be a 2-day affair. Yet Singapore is playing host for about a week, with the entire road closure and all. As the days to the meeting draw closer and closer I realized too that Singapore is getting more and more direct with the inputs the country is putting for the IMF meeting. The Singapore smile, the compulsory display of national flags on public transports, and the ever-freaky new thing on the block called ‘street protests’ are all seemingly ‘for show’ created specially for the IMF meeting.

Now isn’t Singapore putting in a little bit too much effort for just this thing called the IMF?? I really wonder. And what is it trying to achieve following these inputs?

So having had typed the word IMF for about 10 times by now, perhaps I should briefly remind myself and my readers what IMF is and the role it plays just to further comprehend the whole situation and as to why Singapore is finding the IMF meeting so huge and important and what exactly it tries to achieve out of the grand preparation.

And so "briefly"…

IMF in short is an abbreviation of the International Monetary Fund (OK, everyone knows this). But perhaps not every one knows that the IMF pursues damaging policies that harm poor people in developing countries . Musician Ronan Keating who has traveled to Ghana once said "The government in Ghana, like governments in many developing countries, is not allowed to help its farmers with subsidies, or protect its own chicken market with higher tariffs on imports. "When they did try, the IMF put pressure on the government to back down. This is just one example of how institutions like the IMF and World Bank use their muscle to impose policies on poor countries."

Well the role of the IMF, as according to their policies, is to help economic growth and better equip governments to integrate internationally. However there are reports like the one above saying that the IMF peddles contradictory policies especially those related to health problems. Truthout.org once commented that the IMF has set such strict economic targets for developing countries that the governments could not afford to pay salaries for teachers, doctors and nurses. And that these have compounded problems like HIV/AIDS and shortages of health workers in developing countries.

Yet a country like Singapore could be going all out on the hosting of the IMF meeting. Perhaps Singapore is just one of those countries not all relying on the IMF as a provider or lender to its nation's development. And perhaps too Singapore is just lucky enough not to be harassed by the 'master-servant' ideology in the IMF. Well whatever the case is, let us first look at what Singapore has done/planned to do as part of its welcoming device for the upcoming meeting of the seemingly-not-so-great-after-all IMF in order to answer my opening question.

According to the Economic Times, Singapore is spending about S$135 million ($86 million) for just the event, including budgets for everything from security to tea parties. Such include the building of over 1000 offices on the 4th and 6th stories of Suntec City Convention Centre within just 35 days and each 2 storey office equipped fully with IT connectivity and fully air-conditioned. Buildings have also been spruced up, roads re-laid and citizens encouraged to put on their best smile for the deluge of guests who are expected to throng the city.

Other than that, final year university students were also given practical training such as ‘how to tell the difference between spices’. And games such as sepak takraw were played in between service training for student volunteers, designed in order to help build team spirit as well as a bit of brushing up of their historical and cultural knowledge of Singapore with hopes that these students will be able to provide the best level of service at the IMF meeting.

However there is not much that we can tell by just listing the things Singapore does for the upcoming IMF meeting. Yet we can probably see if Singapore is trying a little bit too hard [or sucking up, rather??] to this international organization commonly referred to as ‘western-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF)’ if we were to compare Singapore's preparation with that of past IMF host countries.

Past host countries include Czech Republic, Dubai and Hong Kong - and what exactly did they do for the big day??

Dubai spent about DH160 million (S$68.3 million) for "Dubai 2003" IMF meet, and other preparation include the purchase of 250 special coaches for transporting the delegates, hotel accommodation, special guests and visitors, flying in of 16,000 to 20,000 dignitaries, official representatives and international media by Emirates, and construction of the new Dubai Conference Centre and other related facilities. *sorry I won't put the inputs of the other 2 countries down because I got a bit lazy*

But by looking at Dubai's inputs alone has convinced me that Singapore is indeed making the whole thing look far too grand than other past host countries did, also given the fact that Czech Republic carried out its IMF meet from an expenditure provided mostly by the institution itself. So why is Singapore doing this? And what does Singapore hope to achieve from the IMF? Can this help justify the effort Singapore is putting for the upcoming IMF event?

Well what came to my mind when I asked myself those questions were: is Singapore doing it for the sake of Name? Glam? Recognition? Praises? Trust? yes? no? Not sure, but readings have informed me that Singapore hopes to achieve some financial gain just as past host countries to IMF meetings had. The Economic Times stated that Czech Republic, host to IMF in the year 2000 has not only become one of European Union's fastest growing economies but also attracted an influx of foreign investment into its car and electronics industries.

And Dubai, which hosted similar IMF meeting in 2003, has its foreign direct investment in the United Arab Emirates surged nearly seven-fold two years after hosting the IMF meeting. Dubai also started to build the Dubai International Financial Center, and had some 53 financial firms registered to operate there with the number forecasted to rise fivefold by 2009!

And just like these countries, Singapore, as reported by Economic Times, said analysts think the country expects something out of it too. Singapore hopes to make S$170 million in new business, a fraction of overall economic activity, just from the IMF meeting. Besides that, Singapore also hopes to further diversify its economy, creating jobs and boosting growth.

So it seems like, Singapore is, if not indirectly trading money for money, wishes to expand its economic development and nothing else! Well with the outcomes experienced by other past host IMF meetings, it seems that it is rather possible for Singapore to achieve its goals, though on a long term basis. And I personally think forking out a great amount of money and effort on just the IMF meeting is to an extent a sensible move for the Singapore government, provided the country gets what it aims for. On the other hand, of course, inputs could also be seen as having gone a bit too much for simply an institution that is far from perfect, and efforts such as the 'staging' of the IMF protests is just one of the many extras that are unnecessarily included, given Singapore's protest-free culture and environment.

This should however be followed by reminders that positive outcomes following the hosting of such meeting and for such organization does not necessarily be the product of what seem to be very promising. This is because not all host countries benefit from the IMF meeting. Hong Kong, for instance, hosted similar IMF meeting in 1997 yet suffered terribly from recession after that as the meeting took place on the eve of the Asian Financial Crisis. Whilst Hong Kong may be one unlucky host country, it also tells that the IMF, though powerful looking, is not all capable in preventing or fully helping out its host country on the aftermath of such tragedy.

The World Bank's former Director for China and Senior Adviser Yukon Huang once said that Hong Kong, after the financial crisis, didn't benefit fully. He added saying that Hong Kong had problems with bird flu, got wiped out by SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and then suffered from long-term stagnation in part because of the ripple effects of the financial crisis.

So with all the preparation Singapore is putting in, including begging its citizens to look happy (at the very least) from their normal daily "squashed-faced" appearance (Kenji's views), and bringing back its university students' lost historical and cultural knowledge, let us nevertheless keep our fingers crossed and SMILE to whoever we think makes a guest at the IMF meeting. Though unsure if I did get my point across in this post - cuz' my brains aren't still working apparently - I'll end this post with hopes that the 7-day Singapore-IMF 2006 meet succeeds and that Singapore gets whatever it aims for. God bless Singapore and its money-based ambitions.

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Some readings. I just can't be bothered to reference properly. So here goes my reference list: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042306H.shtml http://www.imf.org/external/ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1957408.cms http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060905/5/singapore228686.html http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/227652/1/.html http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060827/5/singapore227002.html http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/?cntDisplay=130&ID=188 http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=160&from=AED&to=SGD&submit=Convert