RECENT WORK & ACTIVITIES

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (UNECA) AND IDIAN OCEAN RIM ASSOCIATION (IORA) WORKSHOP ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS

Ebene, 4-6 November 2015

Representatives of the 20 countries in the IORA region participated in the workshop on the Contributions of Preferential Trade Agreements to Equitable and Sustainable Trade. The workshop was jointly organised by the UNECA and IORA (led by Prof V N Atri, Chair of Indian Ocean Studies), and took place on 4-6 November 2015 in Ebene, Mauritius. The main objective of the workshop was to review the proliferation, benefits and challenges of preferential and regional trade agreements that have been widespread globally and especially their implications for similar agreements and co-operation in the IORA region. Tran Van Hoa was invited to prepare a paper on the Economic Impact of Regional Trade Agreements based on Econometric Evidence. The paper provided a new approach to impact analysis with improved features on outcomes and credibility over current approaches, and was importantly based on economic integration theory, the fundamental structure of preferential and regional trade agreements. Application of the new approach to China to study the economic impact of trade agreements on the country's economic growth and trade was also provided.

MEKONG RIVER SUB-REGION RESEARCH COLLABORATION

College of Business, Victoria University, Melbourne, 13 July 2015

The interest in the Mekong River Subregion (MRS) that involves five ASEAN economies (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) and China has a long history and robust regional appeal. It  was initiated by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and has had a focus for action plans in the Asian Development Bank. The current funding by Canada’s International Centre for Development Research (ICDR) to Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST), Yunnan, China, to carry out research on the impact of China’s FDI in the region is a new and interesting funding initiative from North America. Prof Li Erping and Associate Prof Bin Xiong from the Department of Management and Economics, KUST, visited Prof Tran Van Hoa, College of Business, Victoria University, in Melbourne, on 13 July 2015. The visit was to exchange ideas and to explore future research and training collaboration between Australia and the MRS on broader issues of regional integration not only in the MRS but also in the ASEAN generally. The prospects of these potential activities in the near future and with the further support of national and international sponsors are considered good.

In the photo below are, from left to right, Associate Prof Bin Xiong, Prof Peter Sheehan, Research Director, Victoria Institute for Strategic Economic Studies (VISES), College of Business, Victoria University, and Prof Li Erping.

Below is a photo of Associate Prof Bin Xiong with a Melbourne Landmark, the Yarra River.

ENERGY SUBSIDY REFORMS IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

27 Feb-1 March 2015, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Prof Tran Van Hoa and Associate Prof Kitti Limskul attended as senior experts the Energy Market Integration Forum at Princess Pathunam Hotel, Bangkok, during 27 Feb - 1 March 2015. The Forum was organised by the Asian Studies Centre (ASC), Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, and led by Prof Nawal Karmel (see photo below), Visiting Professor at Chulalongkorn University, with the support from the ASC and Norway Department of Foreign Affairs. The objectives of the Forum were to gather energy academic and government experts from the ten ASEAN countries to discuss the use of advanced econometric modelling and computable general equilibrium to explore the effects of energy subsidy reforms including compensation policy on economic development, poverty, the environment and regional integration in these countries. The focus of the project was the first of its kind for the totality of the ASEAN region and its research findings by young emerging energy experts representing the region would greatly benefit capacity building and energy policy-making in the ASEAN Economic Community. Experts from the ten ASEAN countries and senior officials from the ASEAN Energy Centre and related organisations in Thailand and the US participated in the Forum.