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Yasuto Watanabe
Chief Executive Officer & Director
ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO)
Mr. Yasuto Watanabe is Director of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). Previously, he served as Senior Deputy Vice Minister of Finance at Japan Ministry of Finance, with a focus on Asia-Pacific regional issues. Mr. Watanabe has held senior leadership and board positions across major international financial institutions, including at the Asian Development Bank.
He brings over 30 years of experience in international finance, development finance, financial regulation, and regional financial cooperation. His expertise also spans government budgeting, administration, trade negotiations, and emerging and developing economy issues.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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3:30–4:00pmWed 18 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen
Policy Rewiring
Cross-Border Connectivity: How Regional Blocs are Building Their Own Financial Integration
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Clara B. ArthurChief Executive OfficerGhana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems (GhIPSS)
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José BeltránBoard ChairNexus Global Payments Ltd
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Yasuto WatanabeChief Executive Officer & DirectorASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO)
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Maha El DimachkiChief Executive Officer, GFTN SolutionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
Not every country can build global-scale financial infrastructure alone. Across the world, groups of countries are pooling resources, coordinating oversight, and interlinking systems regionally, choosing collective action over waiting for a single global standard or going it alone.
This panel brings together three different models of that regional playbook. The discussion works through what it takes to build financial cooperation at the bloc level: how these regional mechanisms actually got built, what kept smaller or newer members willing to join in, and where this collective model succeeds — or strains — compared to a single institution building alone. Attendees leave with a practical view of when banding together beats going it alone, and what it costs to make that work. -
