Dr. Florian Kohlbacher, Director of North Asia of the Economist Corporate Network, is an internationally renowned expert on global business and consumer trends. In a roundtable meeting of business executives and managers, he provided a detailed outlook of the global economy in 2018, noting that the global economy will grow by 2.7%. Regarding Japan, he forecasted that growth will pick up in 2017, only to slow down in 2018, but the yen will remain relatively strong as it is viewed as a safe haven.