The Asia Economic Dialogue 2025, a geoeconomics conference, will be held from Thursday in Pune where Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will deliver the inaugural address.The sixth edition of the three-day annual conference, organised jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and Pune International Centre (PIC), has 'Economic Resilience and Resurgence in an Era of Fragmentation' as the theme, the organisers said in a release on Monday.There will be 12 sessions at the event, which will bring together more than 40 speakers including academicians, policymakers and industry experts from nine countries - Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.Ministerial participation will further amplify the discourse, facilitating an exchange of transformative ideas and strategies.Among the pivotal geoeconomic topics that will be explored at AED 2025 are artificial intelligence, cyber security, African transformation, blue economy, the International Monetary System, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and climate change.The conference will kick off with opening remarks by eminent scientist and PIC president Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, and Union minister Piyush Goyal will deliver the inaugural address.The inaugural session will feature a conversation between Piyush Goyal and Gautam Bambawale, AED 2025 convener and former ambassador to China and Bhutan.It will be followed by a chat with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Biocon Group, hosted by Rama Bijapurkar, expert on India's consumer economy and author of 'Lilliput Land: How Small is Driving India's Mega Consumption Story', the release said.The valedictory address on day 3 of the event will be delivered by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology.Over the three days, the event will address complexities of economic fragmentation and identify actionable pathways for resilience and resurgence.Through nuanced discussions on the challenges and opportunities, the conference aims to empower nations, industries and individuals to navigate the evolving geoeconomic landscape, the organisers said.
