New and more affordable communication technologies offer the hope of a global store of knowledge beyond the dreams of earlier generations. But the intensified competition of the new information age also raises the danger that poor countries and communities will fall further behind.

• Who should take the lead in narrowing knowledge gaps between rich and poor?
• How can technology and telecomm firms prosper by expanding into developing countries?
• How can governments improve information flows so that markets work better?
• What must be done to apply new knowledge and technologies to the challenges of development?

In late 1997, emerging market borrowers began to face difficulties in raising financing on the international capital markets as a result of the East Asian economic crisis. Risk premiums soared for the first time since the 1994 Mexican crisis. In the process, many emerging market businesses and governments alike started to realize the importance of domestic bond capital markets as an alternative financing source, and the contribution these markets can make to a stronger financial sector.

• What factors should emerging market borrowers consider when evaluating long-term financing possibilities in their own domestic bond markets?
• What major challenges do regulatory authorities and market participants face in creating a viable domestic bond market?
• What role can governments play in bond market development?
• How do investors view the combined effects of the East Asian crisis and the launching of the euro on the prospects of the emerging domestic bond markets?

Access to and effective management of knowledge is key to strengthening the competitiveness of organizations, companies and countries around the world. Yet wide gaps exist in how effectively knowledge is managed.

• What makes some groups more effective at managing knowledge than others?
• What are the risk implications - particularly for financial institutions?
• How are knowledge partnerships being forged?
• How are new trends enabling the transfer of best-practice information between institutions in developed and lesser-developed countries?

Political risk insurance is increasingly being used as a risk-mitigating mechanism in structuring large international projects.

• What is the current and projected need for political risk insurance in project financing, and what are the associated costs and benefits?
• How useful are alternative risk-transfer techniques?
• How can rating agencies use political risk insurance as a means to measure risk?
• What are expected future trends in the industry?

The economic crisis in East Asia has re-ignited debate across the developing world about the importance of an independent, reliable media to critique public policy and to strengthen democratic discourse. The crisis has also illustrated the essential role of the economic press in facilitating the disclosure of corporate and financial information - and the consequences of not fulfilling that role.

• What can be done to enhance the independence of the media in countries where editorial freedom is restricted?
• What legal guarantees and government policies need to be in place to ensure a vigorous and professional media?
• What can be done to build the financial base required to make media operations profitable and independent?

A potential computer catastrophe awaits on January 1, 2000, which could wreak havoc on electricity, water, transportation, and telecommunications systems around the world. Yet inadequate resources are being applied to establish credible millennium computer bug (Y2K) programs and adequate contingency plans, particularly in much of the developing world.

• What is being done now to address the Y2K problem?
• What are the implications of Y2K in the most sensitive sectors of the global economy?
• How are governments and corporations establishing contingency plans?
• What are the strategies for developing emergency plans for critical systems?

Think tanks are an increasingly influential voice in policy circles and a crucial bridge between knowledge and action. Although their primary role is to research and analyze policy issues and reforms, they also inform public opinion, shape democratic debates, interpret policies and current events for the media, and advise legislators on issues.

• How have democracy, media coverage, and the complexity of public reforms increased the demand for policy knowledge?
• What roles do think tanks play in public policymaking and strengthening civil societies, and how should they position themselves with respect to governments?
• To what extent is information technology allowing for new outreach techniques and the formation of regional and global networks?
• How can think tanks in developing countries find new financing modalities?

Pension assets worldwide are worth trillions of U.S. dollars and increasing rapidly. They are poised to dominate global capital markets, requiring policymakers, regulators, and fund managers to devise sophisticated new ways of investing. Innovations in these investments are creating a new kind of global pension investment industry that will particularly affect emerging economies, Europe and Japan, and will ultimately determine the success or failure of pension reform around the world.

• What innovations in the asset management industry could help ensure the optimal investment of pension assets?
• How can the investment process be included as part of the reform of social security systems?
• What risks does the less-than-optimal investment of pension assets pose to pension reform?