TRAN VAN HOA

B.Ec (Hons), M.Ec., Ph.D.


http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/csesbl/images/TVH-905-E.jpg
 

Research Professor, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University
Director, Vietnam and ASEAN Plus (East Asia Summit) Research Program (CSES)

PO Box 14428, Melbourne VIC 8001, Australia
Phone: 613 9919 1047, Fax: 613 9919 1350, Email: jimmy.tran@vu.edu.au

Honorary Professor, National Economics University, Hanoi, Vietnam
Honorary Professor, National Advanced Training Institute (NATI), Ministry of Trade, Vietnam

Executive and Editorial Board Member, Asian Forum on Business Education, Thailand

Editorial Board Member, International Economics Studies (Isfahan University), Iran

 

INTERNATIONAL LISTING

Who's Who in the World

Who's Who in Science and Engineering

Who's Who in Asia and the Pacific Nations

2000 Outstanding People of the 20th Century

Who's Who in America

1000 Great Intellectuals of the 21st Century

Dictionary of International Biography

Australian Who's Who

Living Legends

Australian Directory of Professors

INTERNATIONAL AWARD & RECOGNITION

Association of the Korean Economic Studies (AKES) 2004 Best Paper Prize for the article Tran Van Hoa (2004),"Korea’s Trade, Growth of Trade and the World Economy in Post-crisis ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement: An Econometric and Policy Analysis", Journal of the  Korean Economy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 73-108.

For Tran Van Hoa's Recent Profile in Vietnamese
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 BUSINESS AND CONSULTING EXPERIENCE


Director, T&M Enterprises P/L (Victoria, Australia)

Kobe Corporations, Orlando, USA

NSW Vietnam Chamber of Commerce

Australia Council

New South Wales Tax Taskforce

AusAID

Ministry of Commerce (Thailand)

Ministry of Trade (Vietnam)

Ford Foundation (USA)

ACIL-Cardno Australlia

United Nations UNESCAP

International Consultants Centre ICC, Melbourne

Sydney Management Centre

United Nations Development Program (China)

International Development Research Centre (Canada)

 

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Macroeconomic Policy

Development Economics and Growth

Economic Modelling

Business Forecasting

Business and Public Policy

ASEAN Economies and its Enlargement (East Asia Summit)

International Business and Trade

Welfare Economics

Energy Economics

Consumer Demand Studies

Econometric Theory and Analysis

International Finance

Production Studies

Competition Policy in Asian Economies

New Asian Regionalism

Transition Economies in Asia

Asian Free Trade Agreements and WTO

Household Production and Economics

Climate Change and Growth in Asia

Corruption and Anti-corruption in Asia

Pro-Poor Development and Growth in Asia

CO2 Emissions and Economic Development in Asia

AREAS OF TEACHING

Microeconomics

International Finance

Applied and Theoretical Econometrics

Econometric Modelling and Forecasts

Business Economics in Asia

Energy Economics

Competition Policy in Asian Economies

Trade and Investment in Asia

RECENT BOOKS ON ASIAN ECONOMIES

by TRAN VAN HOA

1  Tran Van Hoa (ed) (1997), Economic Development and Prospects in the ASEAN:  Foreign Investment and Growth in Vietnam, 2  ThailandIndonesia and Malaysia. London: Macmillan.

3  Tran Van Hoa (with C Harvie) (1997), Vietnam’s Reforms and Economic Growth, London: Macmillan.

4  Tran Van Hoa (ed) (1999), Sectoral Analysis of Trade, Investment and Business in Vietnam, London: Macmillan.

5  Tran Van Hoa and C. Harvie (eds) (2000), Causes and Impact of the Asian Financial Crisis, London: Macmillan

6  Tran Van Hoa (ed) (2000), Prospects for Trade, Investment and Business in Vietnam and East Asia, London: Macmillan.

7  Tran Van Hoa (ed) (2000), The Asia Crisis: The Cures, Their Effectiveness and The Prospects After, London: Macmillan.

8  Tran Van Hoa, Vietnam: Market Intelligence and Business Analysis, London: Macmillan, in preparation.

9  Tran Van Hoa, (2000) The Social Impact of the Asia Crisis, London: Macmillan.

10 Tran Van Hoa (2000), China's Trade and Investment After the Asia Crisis, London: Edward Elgar.

11 Tran Van Hoa (2001), The Asia Recovery, London: Edward Elgar.

12 Tran Van Hoa (2002), Economic Crisis Management, London: Edward Elgar.

13 Tran Van Hoa (2003), Competition Policy in Major Asian Economies, London: Edward Elgar.

14 Tran Van Hoa and C. Harvie (2003), New Asian Regionalism: Responses to Globalisation and Crises, New York: Edward

     Elgar.

15 Tran Van Hoa (with C Harvie), The Economic Development in Transition Economies, London: Edward Elgar, in preparation.

16 Tran Van Hoa, P Q Thao, V T Dung and L H An (2004), Competition Law and Policy in Major Economies in Asia and Vietnam

    (in Vietnamese), NATI, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi

17 Tran Van Hoa (2005), Household Production. Consumer Behaviour and Economic Policy, London: Ashgate.

18 Tran Van Hoa and N V Lich (2006), ASEAN+3 and Its Impact on Vietnam's Economy (in Vietnamese), World Publishing

    House, Hanoi, Vietnam.

19 Tran Van Hoa and N V Lich (2007), Business Opportunities in Vietnam After WTO Membership, World Publishing House,

    Hanoi, Vietnam.

20 Tran Van Hoa and N V Lich (2007), WTO Impact on Regional Vietnam, World Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam.

21 Tran Van Hoa and C Harvie (2008), Regional Trade Agreements in Asia, London and New York: Edward Elgar.

  RECENT WORK & ACTIVITIES

IMPACT OF CHINA’S EXPORTS & GROWTH ON AUSTRALIA, INDONESIA, THAILAND & VIETNAM

13 December 2001, Vietnam Institute for Trade, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Hanoi

Tran Van Hoa attended the final workshop for the Australian Research Council-funded Project China’s Exports and Growth and Major East Asia Summit Economies: Exploring Policy Responses for Policy Analysis that took place on 13 December 2011 at the headquarter of Vietnam Institute for Trade in Hanoi. The workshop was organised by the VIT (Partner Industry) with the collaboration of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University (Administering Organisation), and TradeData International P/L (Melbourne, Partner Industry) to report on the final findings of the project’s 2009-2011 research. Representing China at the workshop to give the country’s opening-up perspective and its implications for China-Vietnam economic and trade policy was Prof Junfang Xi from the prestigious Shanghai Jiaotong University. In his report, Prof Tran Van Hoa presented a picture of historical economic and trade movements between China and Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and illustrated how these statistics are related to the rise of China’s exports and growth and the resulting policy concerns of these in major South East Asian and Oceania economies. Policy recommendations were then derived from an econometric modelling study using the endogenous growth and trade theory approach. Over 40 government experts and university academics participated in the workshop.

In the photo, VIT Director-General, Prof Dr Dinh Van Thanh (standing), welcomed the participants and opened the workshop

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In the photo below are Prof Xi (1st, front row, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China), Prof Tran Van Hoa (2nd, front row), and some participants

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8TH CONFERENCE ON SME AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

9-11 November 2011, Khon Kaen University, Nong Khai Campus, Thailand

Tran Van Hoa attended the 8th Conference on the SMEs in a Global Economy: Rising to the Global Challenges – Entrepreneurship and SME Development in Asia to deliver his keynote address Causality and Growth Enterprises: Entrepreneurship and Globalisation. The Conference was organised by Khon Kaen University, Nong Khai Campus, and took place on 9-11 November 2011. The Conference was initiated in 2002 by the University of Wollongong and was followed by subsequent series of such conferences in Malaysia, Japan, China and Thailand, besides Australia. It has attracted co-organisers from the University of Senshu (Japan), Beijing Information, Science and Technology University (China), and Universiti Teknologi, MARA (Malaysia). The aim of the Conference is to bring together professionals, workers in universities, entrepreneurs, practitioners and scholars from all around the world to provide a platform to discuss and analyse the prospects, challenges and opportunities faced by the regional SMEs in the wake of globalisation.

More than 60 experts and postgraduate students from eleven countries (Australia, China, Germany, India, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vietnam) participated in the 8th Conference. The topics presented and hotly discussed included SME financing, SME development in Asia, the causes of growth enterprises in Vietnam, the global financial crisis and SMEs, critical issues facing SMEs and practical policy measures, among others.

In the photo below taken before the Conference’s Opening Ceremony in the Khon Kaen University Nong Khai Campus conference hall are, from left to right, Dr Surapon Saensouk (Director, Nong Khai Campus, Khon Kaen University), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Dr Thanet Wattanakul (Head, Department of Economics, Nong Khai Campus, Khon Kaen University, and Conference Organiser).

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In the photo below are some participants at the Conference: (from left to right) Prof Tran Van Hoa (1st), Dr Michael Schaper (2nd, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), Prof Robert Blackburn (3rd, Kingston University, UK, and Editor-in-Chief, International Small Business Journal), Assoc Prof Charles Harvie (4th, Conference Advisory Board Member and  Head, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, Australia), and Assoc Prof Phouphet Kyophilavong (6th, National University of Laos).

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ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC FORUM: INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CRISES

18-20 October 2011, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran

Tran Van Hoa attended as a Program Committee member and presented a paper on Trade and Entrepreneurship in Growth Enterprises at the 10th conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEF) that took place on 18-20 October 2011 at the University of Tehran, Iran. The theme of the conference was International Trade and Entrepreneurship: Issues for Post-crisis Sustainable Development in Asia. The conference was organised jointly by Dr Mostafa Razavi, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, and Prof Komail Tayebi, University of Isfahan, in collaboration and with the sponsorship from the Center for International Scientific Studies and Collaboration, Science and Technology Park, Ports and Marine Administration of Guilan Province, and Isfahan Chamber of Commerce and Industries & Mines.

The conference was significant as it was the APEF’s 10th anniversary meeting and the original APEF focus on international trade, investment, economic integration and growth has been extended to entrepreneurship and management and their inter-linkage in a global context. More than 70 experts and postgraduate students from international organisations (Asian Development Bank and Bank of China) and ten countries (Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines and the US) participated and presented their research papers on various aspects of trade, economic development, crises and entrepreneurship. A session of PhD thesis proposals was also organised for presentation and feedback as part of the conference’s training focus.

In the photos below are some participants at the Opening Ceremony in the UT Scientific Technology Park Hall (photo 1) and in a conference session in the Faculty of Entrepreneurship Conference Hall (photo 2).

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Below is a photo of the conference session break taken in the Faculty of Entrepreneurship garden. From left to right, Prof Komail Tayebi (Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan), Dr Mostafa Razavi (Dean, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran), and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

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AFTA TAX TREATY & AUSTRALIA-VIETNAM COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP

Hanoi, 13 April 2011, Ministry of Industry & Trade

Tran Van Hoa attended a workshop on 13 April 2011 at the Institute for Trade (VIT) to discuss the progress reports of a 2011-2012 research project Global Crises, Economic Integration and Australia-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership funded by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA), International Science Linkage scheme. The project is a joint research between the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES) at Victoria University and the VIT to support Australia’s innovation competitiveness internationalization and research path of new doctoral graduates in the region. Participating at the workshop was Prof E Phijaisanit, Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, who presented a paper on the implications of AFTA tax treaties on government tax revenue and on appropriate policy options. Over 30 government officials from the MOIT and the Ministry of Finance attended the workshop.

In the photo below are some participants (front row, Tran Van Hoa, 1st, and Prof Phijjaisanit, 3rd) at the workshop.

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INDIA & CHINA IN GLOBAL ECONOMY

Kurukshetra University, India, 3-14 March 2011

India and China have recently emerged as two major political and economic powers in Asia with growing global influence. Studies and policy analysis of these two countries and their strategic comparison have become intensive worldwide and specially in the East Asia Summit region. Early in March, Tran Van Hoa visited a number of universities in India for collaborative research, research development and to participate in a number of conferences on various themes of current national and international significance. These include the focus on India and China and also on India and the ASEAN and their role and importance in global economy.

During 3-14 March, he visited the Department of Economics at Kurukshetra University in Haryana, India, as a Visiting Professor, to give special lectures to postgraduates and to contribute to the development of the Research Institute for India-China Studies being prepared by Prof V N Atri, co-ordinator of the Indian Government Special Assistance Program. While there, he was also a Guest of Honour and gave an Inaugural Address on “India and China: Regional Rivals or Partners?” at the international conference on “India and China in Global Economy”, organised by the Deparment and taking place on 4-5 March. Over 250 experts and students participated in the conference, and the proceedings and subsequent interviews were widely reported in the media.

During March. Tran Van Hoa also gave a Keynote Address and was a Policy Panelist at the international conference on “Changing Structure of International Trade and Investment” taking place on 2-3 March at Jamia Millia Ismalia University in Delhi. He was also a Keynote Speaker at the national conference “Development and Inclusive Growth” organised by Kurukshetra University College on 10-11 March, and a Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker at the national conference on “The Global Recession and Growth” on 13 March and organised by the University College at Meerut University in Meerut, UP.

Below is a piece in the Tribunes on the International Conference at Kurukshetra University 4-5 March 2011.

The photo below taken at the Inaugural Session of the conference at Kurukshetra University Senate Hall shows some of the participants.

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The photos below show a meeting with Meerut University Vice-Chancellor, Prof K N Tangeni (centre) with Prof V N Atri (1st), and some of the participants at the Meerut University College conference.

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PRACTICAL ISSUES WITH CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Melbourne, 24 February 2011

The Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES) and Tran Van Hoa have been involved in a number of years in extensive research and policy analysis on energy and climate change issues. Collaboration by a number of countries in Asia with the CSES on these issues is currently active. On 24 February, Tran Van Hoa and CSES staff hosted a 10-member delegation of Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to discuss various practical issues on climate change, mitigation and compensation in Vietnam and the appropriate lessons from Australia. A lively exchange of information, policy, regional responses, and the difficulties involved in practical implementation of climate change policy in Vietnam and Australia was generated and well discussed and received. A follow-up of the issues discussed and future collaborative arrangements have also been agreed to.

The photo below taken at the Meeting Room at CSES shows some members of the MONRE delegation during discussion.

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ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC FORUM (APEF) IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Renmin University of China, Beijing, 28-29 October 2010

Tran Van Hoa participated in the APEF IX International Conference taking place at Renmin University of China (RUC) on 28-29 October 2010. The conference was in a series of annual APEF conferences on contemporary international economic, trade and investment issues, founded by a select group of academic and government experts at the Kangwon National University in Chunchoen, Korea, in 2001. The APEF IX conference had the theme The Global Financial Crisis and East Asia Economic Development, and was organised by Prof Zhao Yanyun, Dean of the School of Statistics at RUC.

In the photo below taken at the end of the conference in the Ming De Building at RUC are, from left to right, sitting, Prof John Junggun Oh (1st, Korea University and East Asia Monetary Institute), Prof Komail Tayebi (2nd, University of Isfahan, Iran), Prof Tran Van Hoa (3rd), Prof Zhao Yanyun (4th), Prof Mostafa Razavi ((5th, Dean, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Iran), Prof Chung-mo Koo (6th, Kangwon National University, Korea), Prof Eiji Ogawa (7th , Dean, Faculty of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, Japan) and some of the participants (standing).

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KOREA ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ASEAN

KIEP, Seoul, Korea 7 October 2010

Tran Van Hoa was invited to participate in an international conference on The Changing Landscape of the ASEAN and Korea-ASEAN Co-operation to present a paper on Korea-ASEAN Co-operation: Challenges and Opportunities. The conference was organised by The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), a research department of Korea’s Prime Minister, with the sponsorship from the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences (NRCS). Its objectives were to get together prominent experts from Korea and major ASEAN countries including Australia to review the current state of development in the ASEAN, their co-operation with Korea, and to offer an effective way forward. Over 30 experts and students participated.

In the photo below taken at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Seoul at the end of the conference are Prof Tran Van Hoa (extreme right) some of the key participants.

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CHINA AND THE WORLD ECONOMY

Peking University, Beijing, 16-17 Sept 2010

Tran Van Hoa attended the China and the World Economy conference at Peking University to deliver his paper (co-authored Prof Zong Ming Tang, Shanghai Jiaotong University) on China’s exports and their impact on regional economies. The conference was jointly organised by Peking University and Oxford University to present new research on China and its major contemporary micro, macro and finance issues. Over 70 academics, government officials and other experts from China and several other countries in Australasia and the European Union participated and discussed their findings. A total of 40 papers were presented at symposia and scientific sessions.

In the photo below taken at the conference gathering are, from left to right, Dr Xiaolan Fu (Oxford University and Conference Co-organiser), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Prof John Knight (Oxford University).

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IMPACT OF CHINA’S GROWTH AND EXPORTS ON VIETNAM INDUSTRIES & THAILAND ECONOMY

25 August 2010, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Hanoi

 

The growing economy of China and its ever rising exports to the world have generated serious impact concerns by leaders in world economy and especially in the major economies (such as Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) in the East Asia Summit region. Prof Tran Van Hoa (Chief Investigator) and Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT, Partner Investigator) organised their six-monthly research progress workshop on 25 Aug 2010 at the VIT Headquarters in Hanoi to report and discuss their 2009-2011 ARC Linkage-funded research work on these impact issues but especially with respect to Vietnam’s industrial sectors and Thailand’s trade and economy.

The workshop was attended by more than 40 experts from the MOIT and notably by Prof Dr Kitti Limskul of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, where he is Director of the Econometric Forecasting Modelling Research Program and the highly-respected Masters of Arts in Labour Economics and Human Resources (MALHR). Dr Limskul was also Thailand’s Vice-Minister of Education and then Finance in the Government of Thailand and his insightful inputs for a major economy in the East Asia Summit group were particularly relevant and appreciated.

 

In the photos below taken at the workshop were the Opening Address by VIT Director-General, Assoc Prof Dr Dinh Van Thanh (standing, photo 1), Prof Dr Kitti Limskul (3rd front row, photo 2), and some other participants (photo 3).

 

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AUSTRALIA-VIETNAM BUSINESS &

TRADE PROMOTION

3 July 2010, Marriott Hotel, Melbourne

 

Tran Van Hoa attended as an Executive Member the Inaugural Meeting of the Vietnamese Business Association of Australia (VBAA) at the Marriott Hotel in Melbourne on 3 July 2010. Other VIP guests include H.E. Hoang Vinh Thanh, Vietnam Ambassador to Australia, senior staff from Vietnam Consulate-General in Sydney, Vietnam Trade Office (VTO), Vietnam Airlines, and major Vietnamese business executives in Melbourne.  More than 100 people attended the Meeting.  Currently, VBAA has 200 business members and 50 associate members.

The VBAA has been established to meet the needs of Vietnamese-Australian and Vietnamese business people to promote and strengthen bilateral SME businesses and trade between Australia and Vietnam for mutual benefits. Australia-Vietnam relations have grown in the past three decades and their two-way trade has increased rapidly in recent years, reaching nearly $A7 billions in 2009 (according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). This imbalance bilateral trade has however been in favour of Vietnam. A purpose of VBAA is to rectify to some extent this deficit trade for Australia. In its operation, VBAA will co-operate closely with the VTO in Sydney which is an official office representing Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) trade promotion in Australia. The VBAA, together with the Australia-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (based in New South Wales), are two important business organisations in Australia in the area of Australia-Vietnam trade promotion.

 

In the photos below taken at the Marriott Hotel are H.E. Hoang Dinh Thanh and Prof Tran Van Hoa (left to right, photo 1), VBAA President (Mr Tran Ba Phuc, photo 2), VBAA Vice-President (Mr Phan Van Danh, photo 3), some VBAA Executive Members (photo 4), and some other participants at the Inauguration Meeting (photo 5).

 

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GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT IN THAILAND

Melbourne, 3-5 May 2010

 

Tran Van Hoa welcomed Dr Kitti Limskul, Member of the Board of Directors, Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation (Public Organisation), who led a delegation of Thailand’s senior climate change experts to Australia to inspect CCS facilities and to exchange ideas on aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation programs and possible collaboration in the two countries. Dr Limskul is a Professor at Thailand’s prestigious Chulalongkorn University, and, for the past 25 years, Director of its Econometric Modelling and Forecasting (EMF) Program. During his recent secondment from Chulalongkorn University, he was also Thailand’s Vice-Minister of Education and Finance. While in Melbourne, Dr Limskul also discussed future research collaboration with Prof Tran Van Hoa and RMIT University staff on climate change issues and human resource management.

 

The photo below records Dr Limskul’s visit to Melbourne during the break of the CCR workshop on CCS at the Novotel.

 

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ENGAGING WITH VIETNAM

Monash University, Melbourne 23-24 February 2010

 

Tran Van Hoa attended the conference Engaging with Vietnam: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue to deliver his keynote address Australia-Vietnam Economic, Trade and External Relations and their Regional Prospects. The conference was organised by Dr Phan Le Ha of the Faculty of Education and sponsored by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Stephanie Fahey, both of Monash University. Distinguished participants included Madam Ton Nu Thi Ninh, former Vietnam Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, Head of Mission to the European Union in Brussels, and Vice-Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, the 11th National Assembly of Vietnam (2002-07); senior academics from Australia’s and Vietnam’s universities; and executives from national organisations such as the ABC. At the conference, a strong presence of Vietnamese scholars and students, and Vietnam experts was noted, and a wide range of topics and research projects on education, training, management, economics, trade, and external relations between Australia and Vietnam was presented and discussed.

 

In the photo below taken at Monash University Conference Centre, 30 Collins St, Melbourne, were (from left to right), Associate Professor Dr Pham Quang Minh, Dean, Faculty of International Studies, Vietnam National University; Dr Phan Le Ha, Conference Organiser, Faculty of Education, Monash University; Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International), Monash University; and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

 

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LEADER IN ENGAGEMENT WITH ASIA

University of Melbourne, 18 February 2010

 

Tran Van Hoa was invited to attend, on 18 February 2010, the 20th Anniversary Cocktail Reception of the University of Melbourne’s Asialink network. The event was to mark a landmark in the network’s history and in which Prof Ross Garnaut (Australia’s foremost expert on Australia-Asia engagement and climate change issues) was invited to deliver his keynote address Relations with China as a Global Power. More than 70 senior business executives, consular representatives, and former and current senior academics from the University of Melbourne (including the Chancellor, two Vice-Chancellors, several Deans), and other institutions participated in the event.

 

In the photos below taken at the event’s location, Freehills, Melbourne, are (photo 1, from left to right) Prof Ross Garnaut (Vice-Chancellor Fellow, University of Melbourne), Jenny McGregor (Chief Executive Officer of Asialink) and Tran Van Hoa; and (photo 2), Jenny Mcgregor and Asialink Chaiman, Sid Myer, on the podium, and some of the participants.

 

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DOES CHINA GAIN FROM IMPORTS FROM

AUSTRALIA AND VIETNAM?

Vietnam Institute for Trade, 29 Jan 2010, Hanoi

While recent strong growth of China’s exports has generated geo-political concern to policy-makers world-wide, the country’s trading partners also hope to export more to China. But do exports by China’s major regional trade partners in the East Asia Summit region such as Australia and Vietnam to the country contribute to its economic growth? These are some major issues for research, dissemination and debate in a new major Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded 2009-2011 project which has the international collaboration of Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Industry and Trade, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES), Victoria University (Australia), and Tradedata P/L (Melbourne).

At the VIT workshop on 29 Jan 2010 in Hanoi to report on the ARC research progress for the second half of 2009, Tran Van Hoa presented some of his research findings to show that, in spite of expectations otherwise, China’s imports from Australia and Vietnam in the past two decades have had only a very negligible effect on its economic performance. One explanation for this finding is attributed to the small share of imports from these two countries to China in a global context. The perspective from Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on the effect of China’s exports to them will be a focus for research during 2010.

In the photos below taken at the ARC-based workshop organised by VIT in Hanoi on 29 Jan 2010 are some participants

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and VIT senior staff and guest speaker: (from left to right) Dr Nguyen Van Sinh (Senior Expert, VIT), Dr Nguyen Van Thang (Senior Expert, VIT), Prof Dr Dinh Van Thanh (Director-General of VIT), Prof Dr Tran Thien Khiem (Director, Vietnam Institute of Economics), and Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich (former Director-General of VIT).

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ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN ASIA:

THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND BEYOND

Keio University, Tokyo, 28-29 November 2009

 

The global financial crisis (GFC) has, through recent increasing economic integration and globalisation, started in the US but created world-wide economic and financial turmoil for developed and especially developing countries world-wide but especially in Asia, where many economies have depended on exports and trade in capital and services for their high development and growth. These GFC and post-GFC issues and policy responses and choices for East and West Asia were explored and discussed by an international panel of renowned economics and trade experts at the 8th Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEF) conference. The conference was organised by Prof Fukunari Kimura, Faculty of Economics, Keio University and Chief Economist, East Asia Summit Research Institute (ERIA), and with the financial support from Keio University and the Keio-Kyoto Global COE Program.

APEF is a new international economics society, founded at the National Kangwon University in Chunchoen, South Korea, in 2001. Its aim is to carry out and disseminate original and high-quality research on contemporary and leading-edge issues in international trade, development and growth, economic integration, economic and trade policy, external relations and political economy in the Asia-Pacific region. Its membership includes academic and government economic experts from major countries in North America, the European Union, West Asia or the Middle East, Asia (East Asia, South East Asia, the Subcontinent) and Oceania. Since its founding, the APEF has its annual conferences in rotation in its members’ countries. Several proceedings of the previous APEF conferences have also been published in book form from international publishers (eg, Edward Elgar, UK).

 

In the photo below taken at the G-SEC Conference Room, East Building, Mita campus, Keio University, are some participants at a conference session

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In the photo below recording the APEF 2009 Executive Meeting are (from left to right), Prof Mosayeb Pahlavani (Dean, Faculty of Economics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran), Prof Seyed Komail Tayebi (Head, Department of Economics, University of Isfahan, Iran, and Editor, Journal of International Economics - Iran), Prof Tran Van Hoa, Prof Fukunari Kimura, Prof Chung-Mo Koo (Kangwon National University, Korea), Prof Zhao Yanyun (Dean, School of Statistics, Renmin University of China, Beijing), Prof Huyn-Hoon Lee (Senior Economist, APEC Research Unit, APEC Secretariate, Singapore, and Professor and former Dean, Kangwon National University, Korea), and Prof Charles Harvie (Director, Small Business and Regional Research Centre, University of Wollongong, Australia).  

 

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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE (IDRC) AND SOUTH EAST ASIA’S ECONOMIES

AND ENVIRONMENT

 

17-18 November 2009, Hanoi, Vietnam

 

Prof Tran Van Hoa was invited to attend and deliver a Plenary Session Speech “CO2 Emissions-Economic Growth Trade-off in Vietnam and China for UNFCCC/IPCC Climate Change Policy Analysis” at the 32nd Biannual Workshop of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Economy and Environment Program for South East Asia (EEPSEA), in Hanoi on 17-18 November 2009. The Workshop, taking place at the Intercontinental Hotel, West Lake, was sponsored and organised by the EEPSEA Directorate (based in Singapore). It is an important event in the EEPSEA yearly activity calendar where the EEPSEA Directorate and senior economists, consultants, resource staff, EEPSEA-funded researchers, and other distinguished experts formally meet to discuss final and interim reports, and new research proposals presented by academics, government officials and NGO and other researchers in major countries in the South East Asia region including China and Mongolia (SEA Plus). At the Workshop, new research themes and direction, and new advances in supporting research and training technology were also discussed by international high-reputation keynote speakers. More than 70 experts from the SEA Plus region, and Australia, Canada and the US, participated in the Workshop.

 

Founded in May 1993 by David Glover from Canada and currently managed by a Director (Dr Herminia Francisco), the EEPSEA has received funding support from a Sponsors Group (currently IDRC, CIDA and Sida) to assist in research and training capacity enhancement activity on environmental and resource economics with strong practical policy relevance for young academics, researchers and upcoming leaders in the SEA Plus region. The EEPSEA has also earned an enviable reputation in this region for its contribution to research and training in these fields.

In the photos below taken at the Workshop, Intercontinental Hotel Ballrooms 2-3, are (Photo 1), from left to right, front row, Dr Herminia Francisco (EEPSEA Director, Philippines), Dr Orapan Nabangchang (EEPSEA Senior Economist, Thailand), and Dr Bui Dung The (EEPSEA Senior Economist, Vietnam), and (Photo 2) some key resource staff and Plenary Session speakers from Canada, the US, and Australia.

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In the photo below taken at the Farewell Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel in West Lake are, from left to right, Prof Tran Van Hoa, Dr Herminia Francisco, and Associate Professor Dr Nguyen The Chinh (Deputy Director-General, Vietnam Institute for Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) .

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CLIMATE CHANGE, CO2 EMISSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM

Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE)

Hanoi, 26 Sept 2009

Tran Van Hoa attended the Economic Analysis of Climate Change Workshop on 26 Sept 2009 in Hanoi to deliver his paper on Vietnam’s CO2 Emissions-Development Trade-offs and its Relevance to UNFCCC/IPCC (Copenhagen 2009) Climate Change Policy. The workshop was organised jointly by ISPONRE, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Vietnam Environment Economics Association (VEEA) and Economy and Environment Program for South East Asia (EEPSEA) of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). More than 70 experts from the various academic and research institutions and regions of Vietnam participated in the workshop where seven major research and discussion papers and reports on climate change effects, regional responses and national policy recommendations were presented.

In his paper, Prof Tran Van Hoa introduced a new econometric model of CO2 emissions-growth of Vietnam to provide a new perspective on climate change analysis and to measure the CO2 emissions-growth trade-offs and the innovation adaptation and mitigation policy effectiveness for the country. Surprisingly, his evidence-based findings which are highly significant show that Vietnam would suffer less than its major regional and global trade partners as a result of adopting a uniform global CO2 emissions reduction policy, and that, unlike other regional economies, the country has successfully adopted CO2 emissions reduction innovation and technology in recent years. His findings led to statistically robust climate change policy recommendations and provide a fresh research outcome in economic analysis of climate change and global warming. Research and communications in this area is, according to the 2009 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), currently lacking, world-wide. Prof Tran Van Hoa’s new modeling methodology and policy recommendations were well received and hotly discussed by the workshop expert panel and some other participants.

In the photos below taken at the workshop venue, The Flower Garden Hotel in Hanoi, are the workshop expert panel (Photo 1) and some participants (Photo 2) at the workshop

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In the photo below taken at the ISPONRE Headquarter in Hanoi where future climate change policy and strategy research development and collaboration between ISPONRE and CSES (Victoria University) were discussed are, from left to right, Dr Nguyen Van Tai, 2nd place (Director-General, ISPONRE), Prof Tran Van Hoa, 3rd place, and Associate Prof Dr Nguyen The Chinh, 4th place (Deputy Director-General, ISPONRE)

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CHINA’S EXPORTS & MAJOR EAST ASIA ECONOMIES

Vietnam Institute for Trade, Hanoi, 14 July 2009

Recent strong growth of China’s exports has elevated the country to a rising global economic power and caused geo-political concern to policy-makers not only in the country but also in its major trading partners world-wide. What are the determinants of this growth, how they have affected major economies in the ASEAN (WB, 2009) in particular, and what kind of evidence-based responses is required and appropriate for major East Asia Summit economies such as Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam? These are major issues for research, dissemination and debate in a new major Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded 2009-2011 project which has the international collaboration of Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Industry and Trade, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES), Victoria University (Australia), and Tradedata P/L (Melbourne).

The official launch of the ARC 2009-2011 project (the fifth at VIT in the past 15 years) took place at the VIT Headquarter in Hanoi on 14 July 2009 where the project’s first ARC and VIT-funded and scheduled workshop to report work in progress in 2009 was also organised. The launch was co-chaired by Prof Tran van Hoa and attended by Australia’s Vice Ambassador to Vietnam (Ms Vanessa Wood) and AusAID in-country representative (Mr N V Hung), MOIT Vice-Minister representative (Dr T V Tung), and senior staff from VIT, MOIT and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Before the launch, Prof Tran Van Hoa and Prof Dr N V Lich participated in the official completion and final report of another ARC-VIT funded 2004-2008 project “ASEAN+3 FTA and Its Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade”. The output of this project includes three books and numerous journal articles and reports which have been widely disseminated and communicated at workshops, conferences and professional journals.

In the photo below taken at the 2009-2011 ARC project launch ceremony at VIT Headquarter are, from left to right, Prof Dr N V Lich (VIT Director-General and ARC Industry Partner), Mr H T Thanh (VIT ARC Projects Director), Ms Vanessa Wood (Australia’s Vice Ambassador – Deputy Head of Mission, to Vietnam), and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

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In the photo below also taken at the 2009-2011 ARC ceremony at VIT Headquarter during the speech by Australia’s Vice Ambassador to Vietnam are some of the participants at the ARC projects’ completion and launch and workshop.

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CORRUPTION AND ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY IN ASIA

Thailand National Anti-corruption Commission (NACC), 5-6 June 2009, Bangkok

Tran Van Hoa attended the International Conference on Evidenced-based Anti-corruption Policy in Bangkok on 5-6 June 2009 to deliver this paper on Development and Corruption in Asia: A Substantive Analysis for Practical Policy Uses. The conference was the first event ever organised by Thailand NACC in collaboration with the World Bank, and took place at the Siam City Hotel. A total of more than 250 participants from the government, anti-corruption agencies, non-government organisations, international organisations (eg, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations), academia and business from more than 16 countries from North America, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Uganda, India, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, attended the conference and to present more than 50 papers.

Eminent speakers included Mr Abhisit Vejjajiva (Prime Minister of Thailand), Mr Panthep Klanarongran (NACC President), Justice Fabio De Pasquale (Chief Prosecutor, Ministry of Justice, Italy), Ms Annnette Dixon (Country Director, World bank, Thailand), Dr Richard Messick (World Bank, Washington D.C, USA), Dr Jean-Pierre Verbiest (Country Director, Asian Development Bank, Thailand), Dr Juree Vichit-Vadakam (Director, Transparency International, Thailand), internationally notable and distinguished academics and business cummunity, and Commissioners from the national anti-corruption commission agencies from major countries in the Asian region. These agencies include the NACC (Thailand), the KPK (Indonesia), the ICAC (Hong Kong), and the Anti-corruption Bureau (Brunei Darussalam). The conference was opened by Thailand Prime Minister and nationally televised and widely reported in the media.

 As a true international venue for scholarly and practical policy information, discussion and debate on what is often known as the dark side of humanity and its activities driven essentially by personal greed and interest at all three levels of  government or state, corporate and individual governance or management, the conference attracted a very wide range of papers and speakers covering important theoretical abstract and practical policy topics of interest to both rich and developed as well as poor and developing economies alike. These topics include (1) How to Prosecute High-Level Politicians, (2) Variety of Corruption and Its Changing Face, (3) Methodological Conflict in Corruption Perspective and Activities, (4) Corruption as a Catalyst of Human Rights Violation in Civil Societies, (5) United Nations Convention Against Corruption 2003, (6) Business-based and Ethics-based Government Governance and Corruption, (7) Evaluation of Corruption Indicators, (8) Corruption and Anti-corruption Policy in Semi-authoritarian as well as Democratic Countries, (9) Can Income and Assets Declarations by Politicians Minimise Corruption?, (10) Uses of IT To Reduce Corruption, (11) Corruption and Integrity in the Agricultural Sector, (12) the Myth of the Low Development and High Corruption Nexus Perception on Asia, (13) Government and Corporate Resistance to Anti-corruption Policy, and (14) the Role of Anti-corruption Agencies in Major Developing Countries in Asia. The Conference papers will be uploaded on the NACC website for wider dissemination. Some papers may be published in the NACC Journal after a peer-review process.

In the photo below taken at the conference are, from left to right, (first) Prof Medhi Krongkaew (Commissioner, Thailand NACC), (second) Prof Sirilaksana Khoman (Senior NACC Adviser, Key NACC Conference Organiser, and Thammasat University), and (third) Dr Fabio De Pasquale (Chief Prosecutor, Ministry of Justice, Italy).

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In the photo below taken at the NACC Conference Dinner at Siam City Hotel are, from left to right, Ms Annette Dixon (Country Director, World Bank, Thailand), Prof Sirilaksana Khoman, Mr Larry Lam (Managing Director, McGuire Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore), and Prof Tran Van Hoa (Director, Vietnam and East Asia Summit Research Program, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia).

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ASIAN COMMUNITY: FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN EAST ASIA

21 March 2009, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China

Tran Van Hoa attended the international symposium on financial crisis and economic integration in East Asia taking place at Shanghai Jiaotong University in Shanghai on 21 March 2009 to deliver his paper on the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC), globalisation, regional trade agreements and policy reform on China trade and growth. The symposium was organised by Prof Junfang Xi of the Antai College of Economics and Management at SJTU and in collaboration with and with the financial support of the Asian Community Research Center at Osaka Sangyo University in Japan. The symposium’s purpose was to gauge the view of active academic researchers in the East and South-east Asia and Australia on the prospects of an East Asia post-crisis recovery and to explore the impact of the GFC on the process of economic integration in the region. A total of over 40 experts from academic and government institutions in China, Japan, Myanmar and Australia attended the symposium to deliver 12 papers covering a diverse area of contemporary high-level scholarly research with policy focus and implications. The topics included the GFC and development and trade, FDI, economic integration, energy conservation, money supply, the GFC tidal waves and their impact, FTAs, game theory and the agricultural sector. A vibrant discussion followed many paper presentations.

In the photo below taken at the symposium reception dinner at the Central Hotel in Shanghai are, from left to right, Prof Junfang Xi (3rd, standing), Prof Tran Van Hoa (4th, Director, Vietnam and East Asia Summit Research Program, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Australia), and Prof Akira Takamasu (7th, Kansai University and Asian Community Research Center, Osaka Sangyo University, Japan).

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GROWING AUSTRALIA-VIETNAM TRADE RELATIONS INSPITE OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISES

Marriott Hotel, Melbourne, 6 March 2009

Tran Van Hoa attended on 6 March 2009 the workshop and ambassadorial reception at the Marriott Hotel in Melbourne to discuss the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) report on the WTO and Australia-Vietnam Trade Relations and to exchange ideas on ways and means to improve these relations. The event was hosted by the Vietnam Embassy in Canberra with the logistics support of the Vietnam Trade Office in Sydney and the contribution by a delegation from the Europe Market Department (Zone II) of MOIT and Vietnam Press. Nearly 60 academics, business people and government officials participated in the event. H.E. Nguyen Thanh Tan, Vietnam Ambassdor to Australia, reported in his speech a strong growing trade between Australia and Vietnam at about 22 per cent per year in recent years and, in terms of two-way trade or WTO-style openness, reaching $A8 billion in 2008. A figure of $A15 billion in two-way trade and 15,000 Vietnamese students studying in Australia as part of services trade have also been predicted for coming years. In 2008, while Vietnamese expatriates around the world sent to Vietnam about $US8 billion and FDI reached $US100 billion, the country still needs further FDI to support its trade expansion and development programs. The MOIT delegation pointed out the favourable climate in Vietnam for trade, FDI , services and relations enhancement as a result of the country’s WTO membership, robust economic and trade policy reforms, and abundant natural and human resources. At the workshop, Professor Tran Van Hoa pointed out that, to have a better understanding of Australia and Asia trade and economic relations,  the Australian Research Council of the Australian Government has awarded him and co-researchers in Australia and Vietnam (Vietnam Institute for Trade, a Department of MOIT) a grant worth $A600,000 in total to study the effects of China’s exports and growth on major regional economies such as Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.  

In the photo below taken at the Marriott Hotel are, from left to right, Ms Nguyen Quynh Anh (1st  place) , Europe Market Department, MOIT; Prof Tran Van Hoa (4th); H.E. Nguyen Thanh Tan (5th), Vietnam Ambassador to Australia; Mr Vu Van Quang (6th), Deputy Director-General, Europe Market Department, MOIT; and Mr Nguyen Van Chi (10th), Commercial Consul, Vietnam Trade Office in Sydney, Australia.

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PROMOTING EAST & WEST ASIA ECONOMIC & TRADE RELATIONS FOR MUTUAL BENEFITS AMID THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

2-7 November 2008

Universities of Sistan & Baluchestan, Isfahan, Shiraz and Teheran, Iran

During the first week of November 2008, Tran Van Hoa participated in a series of APEF (Asia-Pacific Economic Forum) VII conferences at three well-known universities in Iran on the emerging theme East and West Asia Trade and Economic Relations: Opportunities, Challenges and Outcomes. The theme was proposed by Tran Van Hoa two years ago in Korea to reflect APEF ( a new international economics society founded at the Kangwon National University, Chunchoen, Korea, in 2002, to differentiate it from the World Economic Forum) interest in emerging economic power in East and South Asia and the East Asia Summit agenda (14 December 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) for wider regional economic integration and trade liberalisation for mutual benefits.

The local organisers involved in the preparation of the APEF VII conference are Prof Seyed Komail Tayebi of the University of Isfahan and Dr Mosayeb Pahlavani of the University of Sistan & Baluchestan in Zahedan, and numerous pan-university and institution associates. As a significant recognition of the importance of the conference and its theme in the East and West Asia region, a total of 16 universities and institutions provided sponsorships. These include the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Presidency, Central Bank of IRI, Refah Bank, Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran, the Governor of Sistan & Baluchestan, Iran Technical & Vocational Training Organisation of the Qom Province, Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Institute for Trade Studies and Research, Chabahar Free Trade Zone, Chabahar Maritime University, Islamic Azad University, Commercial Organisation of Sistan & Baluchestan, Universities of Isfahan, Sistan & Baluchestan, Shiraz and Teheran.

More than 1300 senior government officials, business people, university staff and students attended the Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speeches of the APEF VII conference at the University Sistan & Baluchestan in Zahedan. Experts from over 10 countries in Asia, India, Iran, other Middle East countries, Oceania and the European Union participated to deliver 38 selected research papers (out of a total of 100 papers submitted for presentation) covering a wide range of topics on trade, economics, finance, technology and management in East and West Asia, and the impact of the current global financial crisis. Prof Tran Van Hoa delivered his keynote speech emphasizing the opportunities and challenges of deepening East and West Asia trade and economic relations. He also presented a research paper measuring the impact of Gulf oil, foreign direct investment, financial services, crises and reforms on 10 ASEAN economies growth and development.The conference and the interviews of key participating international experts were widely reported by numerous news and TV media nationally and internationally. Selected APEF VII conference papers have been solicited for publication as a book by a well-known international publisher in the UK and US.

A prominent session of the APEF VII conferences at the University of Sistan & Baluchestan and the University of Isfahan was a Roundtable where keynote speakers and the audience participated in discussions on major contemporary issues of interest to future policy in East and West Asia. The issues raised at the session included energy supply, demand and prices, the importance of small and medium-size enterprises, the current interest by academic and institutional experts and policy-makers on the architecture of regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, and most importantly, the impact of the US subprime or global financial crisis (GFC) on both developed and developing economies world-wide. In his discussions, Prof Tran Van Hoa stated that it is too early to assess the wide-spread and deep damages of GFC, but he gave an overall evidence-based picture of the potential economic, financial, ideological and political damages of the GFC in all big and small economies which many times surpass the decades-long gains from trade liberalisation and growth, and reform. He also pointed out fortunately that good and appropriate policy can attenuate these damages and spur future development and growth, and recommended regional and global co-operation in finding appropriate solutions on these. In his discussions, Prof Peter Lloyd, of the Grubel-Lloyd Intra-trade Index fame, also concurred that a rethink of laisser-faire or extreme capitalism as a model of modern economic management policy with government support may be necessary. Prof Ahmad Akbari emphasised the effects of the GFC on economic slowdown and oil revenue of the OPEC and their contagion to other sectors of the economy (eg, education in Iran) that crucially depend on it. Prof Charles Harvie predicted a hard time for SME operation with contracted public consumption and less available credits and finance as a result of the GFC.

The photo below records a Roundtable session at the University of Sistan & Baluchestan in Zahedan. From left to right, Prof Ahmad Akbari, Chancellor, University of Sistan & Baluchestan; Prof Peter Lloyd, University of Melbourne, Australia; Prof Tran Van Hoa, APEF Founding President and Director, Vietnam and East Asia Summit Research Program, Victoria University, Australia; and Prof Charles Harvie, Director, SME and Regional Research Centre, University of Wollongong, Australia.

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In the two photos below taken at the Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speeches in the Ferdowsi Hall on campus at the University of Sistan & Baluchestan in Zahedan are some of the 1300 VIP guests and participants.  

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Some Key Speakers at the APEF VII conference in Zahedan (photo below). From left to right, sitting, Prof Ahmad Akbari; Prof Peter Lloyd; Prof Tran Van Hoa; and Prof Hyun-Hoon Lee, Dean of Asia-Pacific Academy and an APEF Founding Member, Kangwon National University, Korea.

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In the photo below taken at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Isfahan, are, from left to right, Prof Charles Harvie; Prof Komail Tayebi, University of Isfahan and APEF Local Chair; Prof Tran Van Hoa; Prof Hossein Harsij, Vice-Chancellor, University of Isfahan; Prof Peter Lloyd; and Dr Nazende Ozkaramete Coskun, Bikent University, Turkey.  

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The photo below shows some of the audience at the APEF VII conference taking place at the University of Shiraz.

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INDIA AND EMERGING ASIAN REGIONALISM:

ECONOMIC, TRADE AND POLITICAL ISSUES, AND PRIORITY

25-30 September 2008, Allahabad and Jawaharlal Nehru Universities and RIS, India

Tran Van Hoa participated recently in three important high-level academic and policy meetings in India dealing with emerging issues of India as a new major economic power and its role in the broad Asia region in particular. At Allahabad University, he attended an AusAID and UNCTAD-funded international conference on Trade and Development, taking place on 25-26 Sept 2008, to present a keynote address (and the conference highlight) on India-Asia Trade and Growth. The conference was jointly organised by the Departments of Economics (Prof A Agarwal) and Statistics (Prof A Chaturvedi), to discuss the status quo, current research and co-operative potential of India, major India-Asian trade agreement issues, and the European Union’s FDI interest in the subcontinent. More than 120 participants (academics, government and international organisation officials, and business executives) from all over India, Australia, the EU, Malaysia, and Turkey attended the two-day conference which was widely reported by the media.

In the photo below taken in the historic North Hall, Allahabad University, at the end of the Valedictory Session are some keynote speakers at the conference (from left to right front row, Prof Alka Agarwal, Chair and AU Council Member, Department of Economics, Allahabad University; Prof Tran Van Hoa; Prof Rajen Harshe, Vice-Chancellor, Allahabad University; Chief Justice (retired) Shri Prakash).

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 And some of the participants at the conference during the keynote address by Tran Van Hoa.

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Prof Tran Van Hoa also participated in a high-level policy RIS-ADB conference Emerging Asian Regionalism: ASEAN-India FTA and Beyond, taking place on 29 Sept 2008 at the Viceregal, Claridge Hotel, New Delhi, to present his key panel address on India and the ASEAN. The conference was jointly organised by RIS (Research and Information System for Developing Economies, India’s government-funded top think-tank) and the ADB (Asian Development Bank) and attended by H E Dr Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Dr M Kawai, Dean, ADB Institute in Tokyo, India's elite government officials and academics, and international embassy and business representatives. In his address, Tran Van Hoa gave an account of the recent past record of India-ASEAN-World economic and trade relations, and, using the recent findings based on his endogenous gravity theory, explored these relations’ opportunities, obstacles, and prospects within the framework of a plurilateral India-ASEAN FTA, and the East Asia Summit FTA as proposed currently by the 16 EAS leaders. At the conference, the ADB launched its new publication Emerging Asian Regionalism: A Partnership for Shared Prosperity, in which some aspects of integration of production, trade, financial markets, and FDI in the ASEAN Plus were particularly paid attention to. The conference was widely reported by the media.

In the photos below taken at the Viceregal Hall, Claridge Hotel, in New Delhi, during the RIS-ADB conference are some keynote speakers (Dr Rajesh Kumar, Director-General, RIS; Dr M Kawai, Dean, ADB Institute; Dr Srinivasa Madhur, Director, OREI, ADB).

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And some of the participants.

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In New Delhi, Professor Tran Van Hoa also gave a seminar on 30 Sept 2008 to staff and postgraduate students of the Centre for International Trade and Development of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (India’s top university) to talk about the development of his endogenous gravity theory and its applications to India’s and ASEAN’s economic and trade issues particularly in a present climate of energy and financial crises, and to offer possible solutions. The visit to the JNU was organised by Prof B B Bhattacharya, JNU Vice-Chancellor and a noted economist and adviser to India’s Prime Minister.

In the photo below taken at the JNU seminar are, front row, Prof Tran Van Hoa and Prof Geeta Agarwal (Chairperson, CITD), and some postgraduate students.

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KOREA AND THE WORLD CONFERENCE VII

20-21 June 2008

Korea Institute of Public Finance, Seoul, and Kangwon National University, Chunchoen, Korea

Tran Van Hoa attended the Korea and the World Economy Conference VII in Korea during 20-21 June 2008 to deliver his research paper on the currently proposed Australia-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and to discuss papers at a plenary session on Official Development Assistance - Korea and the Developing Countries. The conference (in the series established at Kangwon National University in Chunchoen in 2002) ) with high-profile national and international co-sponsors was hosted by the Association of the Korean Economic Studies (AKES) which is the largest economics society in Korea. The official professional journal of the AKES is the Journal of the Korean Economy and it is included in the well-known Journal of the Economic Literature Classification. Over 50 delegates from universities, research institutes and international organisations (eg, Asian Development Bank, Asia Foundation, the IMF, United Nations ELAC) from over 11 countries (eg, Australia, China, France, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the UK, the US) participated in the conference where a wide range of economic, ODA and trade topics on Korea and its relations with the global economy were discussed. 

In the photo below at the farewell function at the Santorini in Chunchoen are (from left to right) Prof Huyn-Hoon Lee (Dean, Asia-Pacific Co-operation Academy, Kangwon National University; local organiser), Prof Chung-Moo Koo (President, AKES; local organiser), Dr Bongkee Hahn (Vice Governor, Gangwon Provincial Government), Prof Sven W Arndt (Claremont McKenna College, USA), and Prof Tran Van Hoa

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INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY IN VIETNAM:

POLICY MODELLING TRAINING FOR ACADEMICS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

2 May 2008, Vietnam Institute for Trade, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam

While the role of econometric modelling for policy analysis (using say the methods of growth regression, panel regression, structural equation modelling, and CGE/GTAP) has been recognised and used in most developed and Western countries world-wide, an appropriate modelling methodology with more credible or realistic outcomes for use by corporate and government policy-makers in both developed and developing countries alike is still to be developed. A new development with improved features and outcomes in this field is the Generalised Gravity Theory proposed in 2002 and used successfully since by Tran Van Hoa (eg, see the Journal of the Korean Economy, 2004) in many practical applications on economic, trade, FDI and service studies in Asian economies (eg, China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam) in recent years. This advanced modelling tool has now been officially adopted by the Government of Vietnam (Ministry of Industry and Trade) for practical economic and trade policy analysis by its researchers, experts and decision-makers. A training course on the GGT and its applications, funded partially by VIT, was organised at its headquarter in Hanoi on 2 May 2008 for select government officials and academics from major ministries and universities in Vietnam. A total of over 40 officials and academics attended the course. MOIT is now actively seeking support to further develop and disseminate this new modelling methodology to study major current areas of national development priorities to enhance the country's capacity, trade, growth and external relations.

In the photo below taken at the training course are Prof Tran Van Hoa (second from left) and some participants.

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INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

AND THEIR IMPACT IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

21-23 April 2008, United Nations University and Renmin University of China, Beijing

Tran Van Hoa attended the Second Conference of Micro Evidence on Innovation in Developing Economies (MEIDE), on 21-23 April, 2008, at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, to deliver a paper on the Impact of Innovation &Technology Public Expenditure on Development in China and India: An International Comparative Study, and to chair a session. The Conference was jointly organised by the United Nations University at Maastricht and MERIT (the Netherlands), INSEE (France), and Renmin University. A total of over 70 academics, government officials and experts from 25 countries (eg, Latin America, European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Turkey, Australia) attended the conference. A wide range of topics covering innovation and labour, patents, technology sourcing, policy evaluation, spillovers, financing and innovation, innovation indicators, innovation in opening economies, innovation input/output, and innovation and FDI was discussed. One main outcome from the studies presented is that efficiency of innovation and technology on productivity at both micro and macro level in many economies is still to be improved. Tran Van Hoa pointed out the lack of endogeneity in the modelling methodologies adopted for all these studies and recommended a focus on this in future work.

In the photo below taken at the end of the conference and in front of the Run Run Shaw Conference Centre at Renmin University are some of the participants.

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BASIC PUBLIC SERVICES EQUALISATION IN CHINA:

AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), 22-23 Feb 2008, Haikou, China

Tran Van Hoa was invited to attend the international conference Basic Public Services for 1.3 Billion People during 22-23 Feb 2008 in Haikou to present his paper on China's Education and Development and Its Comparative Efficiency Competitiveness with one of China's major economic and trade rivals in the region, India. The conference was organised by one of China's think-tanks, the China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), and with the collaboration of China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) and the United Nations Development Program (China). A wide range of 'hot' topics on major aspects of public services in China, covering education, health care, rural and regional development, urban-rural gaps, legal foundation, tax reform, and social security, were discussed and debated by more than 250 senior academics and government officials (including two Vice Ministers) from all over China and 17 international experts (eg, from Australia, France, Sweden, the UK), UNDP Resident Representative and Senior Economist. The conference proceedings were nationally televised and reported by 21 mass media networks. In his paper and discussions, Prof Tran Van Hoa emphasised the importance of not only public services input and capacity equalisation but, more significantly, their outcomes and efficiency evaluation (a new policy research direction mentioned at the conference by the UNDP (China) Representative, Mr Khalid Malik, and endorsed by Vice-Minster of National Population and Family Planning Commission, Dr Zhao Baige), and the relevance of regional competitiveness (in this case, India's education and health care) in a globalised economy where China is playing an increasingly influential role.

In the photo below taken at the New State Guest House at the Opening Ceremony are H.E. Dr Zhao Baige and Professor Tran Van Hoa.

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Two photos showing some of the national and international participants at the Conference.

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VIETNAM GOVERNMENT & VICTORIA UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

IN MINISTERIAL TRADE POLICY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT

8-20 December 2007, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam

Prof Tran Van Hoa of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES), Faculty of Business & Law, Victoria University, led, during 8-20 December 2007, a number of Australian Research Council-funded workshops in major cities and provinces of Vietnam to present his work with the Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), on implementing improvements in economic and trade policy in the country. The workshops were organised by VIT (an Industry Partner in a 2004-2007 ARC Linkage Project) on Australia-Vietnam Trade, co-managed by VIT Director-General, Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich), and endorsed by H.E. Nguyen Van Linh, Vietnam Vice-Minister of Trade.

The workshops were attended by senior university and trade college executives and academics, senior government officials, and select postgraduate students. The work involves the implementation of a new modelling policy approach, the so-called generalised gravity theory (GGT) introduced by Tran Van Hoa in 2002, that provides significant improvements in modelling outcomes and policy credibility and reliability to existing and popular approaches that are currently used in this field by national and international institutions (e.g., universities and research institutes) and organisations (e.g., the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank). A description of the GGT is given in an award-winning article in 2004 in the Journal of the Korean Economy, published by Korea’s largest economics society, the Association of the Korean Economic Studies. Online access: http://www.akes.or.kr/jke/index.htm..

At the workshops, the participants were introduced to the work's preliminary research and findings, and informed of MOIT decision to adopt the GGT methodology for economic and trade analysis and implementation at the practical and operational level by the Ministry. The decision is highly significant for global government governance in the sense of how relevant and quality government policy background support in Vietnam (a major ASEAN, APEC and East Asia Summit member) is sought and for using relevant government-university partnership in formulating and implementing economic and trade policy. This can be a model for high-level and suitable policy analysis and useful and practical implementation for other countries.

In the photo below taken at the meeting at the MOIT Headquarter in Hanoi on 20 December 2007 are H.E. Nguyen Van Linh, Vice-Minister of Trade (on the left), and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

TT Linh-TVH

A record photo of the ARC-VIT workshop at the VIT Headquarter in Hanoi: Prof Tran Van Hoa, Prof Dr N V Lich (centred) and senior government participants.

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A record photo of the ARC-VIT workshop at Da Nang University, Central Vietnam: Prof Tran Van Hoa (second from left) and Da Nang University Vice-Rector, Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Nhu Liem (first from left) and senior university executives and government officials

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A record photo of the ARC-VIT workshop at the College of Foreign Economic Relations, MOIT and Ministry of Education and Training, Ho Chi Minh City, Southern Vietnam: Prof Tran Van Hoa (left), and College Rector, Prof Dr Pham Chau Thanh (second from left), and College academics and government participants.

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A record photo of the ARC-VIT workshop at the Provincial Office of Trade and Tourism, MOIT, Da Lat, Highland Vietnam: Prof Tran Van Hoa (centred) and senior business and government participants.

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A record photo of the ARC-VIT workshop at Nha Trang University, Coastal Vietnam: Prof Tran Van Hoa and Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Anh (Dean, Faculty of Economics, Nha Trang University), and senior University executives and academics.

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 and 

CHINA AND INDIA: TRADE RELATIONS AND ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY

FOR TWO GIANTS IN EAST ASIA SPHERE

25-27 October 2007, University of Kashmir, India

Tran Van Hoa attended the 90th Indian Economic Association Conference at Kashmir University in India on 25-27 October 2007 to present his recent research findings on China-India trade relations and their impact on India's growth, 'Look East' policy, economic diplomacy and regional cooperation. Since its devastating balance of payments crisis in the early 1990s, India has achieved spectacular high growth with its subsequent reforms introduced by successive governments in the mid-1990s and early-2000s. India now stands as a new economic power giant in the East Asia Summit sphere competing with China (and even Vietnam) for global market access for goods, FDI inflows and services exports. Tran Van Hoa pointed out, in his paper, that while his substantive evidence supports the political view that both India and China may be rivals in these major areas of global cross-border transactions, it would pay to be each other's political and trade partners than trade competitors as the costs of crisis and conflict even short of an all-out war would be extremely high. In a move to underscore India's growing economic and political power in the region, it is worth noting that Australia signed a the protocol to set up an Australia-India free trade agreement on 31 August 2007. At the conference, India's top economists and government advisers emphasised the need to improve the country's international competitiveness by means of human resource and skill improvements through government priority setting and adequate funding. The problem of disparate development paths in different regions of India also needs attention and appropriate development policy.

In the photo below taken on campus in the Science Block at Kashmir University are, from left to right, Prof G K Chadha (Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and former Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Prof B B Bhattacharya (Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and 2007 President, Indian Economic Association)

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The photo below taken at the Opening Ceremony at the Convocation Complex at Kashmir University are Prof A Wahid (Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University) and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

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rEGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN ASIA:

Issues in China and Vietnam Trade

31 July 2007, Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Trade (MOT), Hanoi

While regional economic integration has been strongly supported by the governments in the ASEAN Plus region to promote trade, economic growth, poverty reduction and co-operation, major issues such as trade, investment and services in a bilateral framework between China and Vietnam for example in an AFTA Plus scheme have not been adequately studied in detail or reported at both the academic and policy level. These issues were taken up by VIT and other ministries and academic and research institutions in Vietnam recently in a nationally competitive research project grant awarded by Vietnam Ministry of Sciences and Environment to VIT. Major reports from the project were presented at a workshop on 31 July 2007 at the VIT Headquarter in Hanoi. A total of over 70 senior government officials, academics, businesspeople, other experts and consultants, and the media participated. Tran Van Hoa presented his paper on China-Vietnam trade and economic relations in which he applied his internationally acclaimed policy modelling approach with features superior to the CGE/GTAP (namely, the Generalised Gravity Theory, a description is given online: www.akes.or.kr/jke/index.htm.) to study empirically the impact of trade, FDI, services, policy reforms and crises on economic development in these two major transition and high-growth economies in Asia. The paper is part of an Australian Research Council Linkage 2004-07 Project research with VIT as an Industry Partner. One surprising finding of the paper is that, in this bilateral framework, China will gain more from trade with Vietnam, but Vietnam will gain more from trade with a developed country in the region such as Australia. In addition, development in both China and Vietnam is found to be severely affected by policy reforms and regional and global crises. The risks of structural change in regional economic integration exist and a neglect of their management by decision-makers or the leadership may damage the perceived gains from regional economic integration or free trade agreements.

In the photo below taken at the workshop are, from left to right, Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich (Director-General, VIT, and ARC Linkage Industry Partner), Dr Nguyen Manh Hung (Prime Minister Office), Ho Trung Thanh (standing, ARC Linkage Project Manager, VIT), Prof Dr Nguyen Van Thanh (Vice Director-General, VIT), H E Le Van Dinh (Vice Minister, MOT), Prof Tran Van Hoa (ARC Linkage Chief Investigator and Director, Vietnam and ASEAN Plus Research Program, Victoria University, Australia), Prof Dr Nguyen Mai (hidden, Ministry of Science and Environment), and Prof Dr Nguyen Van Huong (former President, National Economics University, Hanoi). 

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In the photo below are some of the participants including the media representatives at the workshop.

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KOREA & THE WORLD VI:

Issues in a Korea-Australia FTA and Regional ODA

2-3 July 2007, Wollongong University, Australia

Tran Van Hoa attended the Korea and The World Economy International Conference VI: Towards Asian Economic Community at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, on 2-3 July 2007, to present a paper on Official Development Assistance (ODA) Effectiveness in Asia. Since the current debates on ODA effectiveness or ineffectiveness have been based on aspects of political economy or methodologies that have been regarded as simple or inadequate, the paper provides a new and suitable modelling approach and substantive empirical findings to improve the quality of the debates. The issue is important as in 2005, ODA reached $US107 billion and current and former senior World Bank experts and consultants (eg, Sachs and Easterly) working on the area are not sure about the ODA benefits and the effectiveness of ODA modus operandi. The Korea and The World Conference series, organised principally by Korea's largest economics association, the Association of the Korean Economic Studies (AKES), started in Korea in 2001 by a group of international academic economists, trade experts and government officials to research on major issues in Korea and their implications and relations to the rest of the world. About 50 people from 17 countries around the world participated in the Conference which also attracted local and national media. Major issues in the currently negotiated Korea-Australia FTA were also a major topic at the Conference.

In the photo below (Tran Van Hoa, second from right) taken at the foyer of the Communications Centre at Wollongong University before the Conference are AKES Council Members, key participants and local and AKES organisers.

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Eminent participants at the Korea and The World Conference VI include H E Mr Chang-Boem Cho, Korea Ambassador to Australia (right, photo at the Novotel below) and Prof Robert Castle, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Wollongong University, left), and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

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The photo below taken in front of the MacKinnon (a former Vice-Chancellor at Wollongong University) Building after the farewell lunch at the Food Re-Thought restaurant at Wollongong University shows some of the participants.

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WHAT ARE NEW IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION?

30 June-1 July 2007, Wollongong University, Australia

While in Wollongong, Tran Van Hoa also attended, as an Executive Member and speaker, the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEF) International Conference VI, with the theme Asian Regionalism: Issues, Opportunities, Challenges and Outcomes, where he presented a paper on International Economic Integration in Asia: AFTA and WTO Memberships. The paper is acutely relevant to the current development in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions where, with the suspension of the WTO Doha Round negotiations in SARS Hong Kong in 2006, free trade agreements among neighbouring countries have been strongly promoted by major countries for mutual benefits. APEF is a new economics association founded in Chuncheon, Korea, in 2001, and has a wide international academic, government and industry membership and with an Asia-Pacific (in contrast with the World Economic Forum) focus agenda. Participants from 9 countries in East Asia, West Asia and Oceania attended the Conference and presented papers.

In the photo below taken at Wollongong University Communications Centre are some participants (Tran Van Hoa, 4th from left) of the Conference.

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Business and Investment in Vietnam under the WTO

21-23 May 2007, Vietnam Institute for Trade, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi

With its WTO membership on 11 January 2007 after over 12 years of tortuous negotiations, Vietnam is set to integrate more boldly and more competitively into the world market to increase its shares of exports and FDI, to enhance its sustainable growth, and to strengthen its external economic relations. This 150th WTO membership also projects Vietnam as a fast growth and politically stable market of more than 84 million people to attract international businesses and investors. This growth and stability were achieved even during the damaging periods of economic and financial crises and contagion which created a new 200 million poor in the region in recent years (Tran Van Hoa's Social Impact of the Asia Crisis, Macmillan, 2000, and Economic Crisis Management, Edward Elgar, 2002). To many of these corporate and individual transnationals, Vietnam is still a mysterious and exotic land and a free market economy with a social orientation where the challenges and opportunities for business and investment may be little understood. To assist these transnationals and local businesses and corporations in exploring Vietnam and global opportunities, Prof Tran Van Hoa is collaborating with Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Trade, and other local businesses and companies to compile a compendium of businesses and investment for publication during 2007. The compendium is an update of the mid-1990s collaborative research work of VIT and Prof Tran Van Hoa to 2006 in which a wealth of information for a list of major and growing and investment- and services-hungry businesses and companies in all critical sectors in Vietnam is analysed and presented for possible international joint ventures or collaboration.  

ISSUES IN AUSTRALIA-KOREA RELATIONS AND FTA

26 March 2007, Myer Asia Institute, University of Melbourne

Tran Van Hoa attended a meeting with H E Chang Beom Cho, Korea Ambassador to Australia, at a get-to-know event organised by the Asialink network of the Myer Asia Institute, Melbourne University, on 26 March 2007 where major issues in Australia-Korea relations and trade were discussed. In his speech, Mr Cho gave an overview of Australia’s initial involvement in Korea during the 1951 War, Korea’s economic achievements over the past 4 decades or so, recent trends and developments in Australia-Korea trade and especially its imbalances, and prospects for a proposed Australia-Korea free trade agreement which was endorsed early in 2007 by the two governments. He called for an increase in outward trade in services and tourism to Korea to promote bilateral friendship and to rectify the trade imbalances. In an ensuing discussion, Tran Van Hoa raised the questions of Korea’s general apathy to an FTA, the deep-rooted tension between the 3 East Asia economies (China, Japan and Korea) that may affect regional trade agreements such as the ASEAN+3, and perceived security issues for the peninsula involving North Korea’s nuclear programs. More than 30 academics, government officials and business people attended the meeting. A lively discussion followed the ambassador’s talk.

The photo below taken at the Myer Asia Institute boardroom are Prof Tran Van Hoa and H E Chang Beom Cho.

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Australia-China Free Trade Agreement:

Issues in Regional Development and Substantive Policy Support

17-18 March 2007. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

Prof Tran Van Hoa attended the international conference on Australia-China Free Trade Agreement: Regional Development Issues and Modelling Policy taking place in Beijing on 17-18 March 2007 to deliver a keynote address (Title: AFTA and WTO Memberships: Challenges, Opportunities and Choice) on the progress, outcomes and benefits of regional trade agreements in Asia (such as the ACFTA) and the actual substantive gains (or a lack of them) from WTO memberships. The conference was sponsored by AusAID-ISSS, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and supported and locally organised by three Beijing universities: the Renmin University of China (RUC), the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), and the Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB). The Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES) at Victoria University in Melbourne is the other Australian sponsor.

More than 40 trade, economic, population and agricultural academics and government officials from Australia, India, Vietnam, Beijing universities and a number of north-west and north-east provincial universities in China participated in the conference. A wide range of research work and findings by these experts on China's national and regional development, its relations with Australia, the ASEAN and the Subcontinent was reported, generated lively discussion and provided initiatives for further and future collaboration. At the conference, Prof Tran Van Hoa also emphasied again the growing importance of trade and relations between China, India (two of the world's fast growth and populous economies) and Australia for future strategic research. He pointed out the dominance of RTA developments such as the ASEAN+China, ASEAN+Japan and Korea, ASEAN Plus (created after the First East Asia Summit in Malaysia in 14 December 2005), ACFTA and Australia-Japan FTA proposals over other trade agreements such as the multilateral WTO. This dominance starts attracting international focus at the same time the actual gains from WTO memberships have been found by international experts to be empirically weak or not significant at all (see for example, Rose, 2004 in AER, and Tran Van Hoa, 2006 in JKE). 

In the photo below taken at the ACFTA Conference are, from left to right and sitting, Dr Bui Anh Tuan (Institute of World Economy, Vietnam), Dr Pham Lan Huong (Deputy Head, Economic Integration Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam), Prof Charles Harvie (Director, SME Research Centre, University of Wollongong, Australia), Prof Tran Van Hoa (Director, Vietnam and ASEAN Plus Research Program, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia), Prof Shovan Ray (Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Reserve Bank of India), Prof Li Yang (Local Organiser, Dean, School of Statistics, CUEB, Beijing), Prof Zhao Yanyun (Local Organiser, Director, China Center for Competitiveness Studies, RUC, Beijing), Prof Liu Yang (Local Organiser, Dean, School of Statistics, CUFE, Beijing). 

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While in Beijing, Prof Tran Van Hoa also visited senior academics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) to further international networking and research collaboration development between Australia and China. In the photo below taken at the RUC University House are, from left to right, Prof Gao Peyong (Director, Institute of Public Finance, CASS, Beijing), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Prof Du Huang (Vice-President, RUC, Beijing).

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WTO and ASEAN FTA: Expectations and Outcomes

4-5 December 2006, NATI, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi, Vietnam

The aspirations of many countries in the world to be members of the WTO (an off-shoot of GATT, GATS, TRIMS, TRIPS and with recent added-on income equality and poverty alleviation), to make sometimes painful and long-negotiated commitments and to carry out 'hard' reforms are well-known especially for developing countries in Asia. These aspirations and membership-derived expected outcomes have occupied many minds at the different levels of sophistication (that is, from elementary textual (or what are made commitments and required implementation) to descriptive, correlational, simple analytical, advanced and realistic and credible empirical causality studies) and much of the global and aid agency resources. What are the substantiated gains or positive outcomes of this WTO membership and as compared against other current agreements (such as the AFTA or ASEAN Free Trade Area or Agreement) to liberalise trade and enhance growth and living standards?  

Prof Tran Van Hoa recently attended the 2006 Asian Forum on Business Education (AFBE, based in Thailand) organised by the National Advanced Training Institute (NATI), Vietnam Ministry of Trade, in Hanoi, to deliver a keynote speech in which he presented some new international substantive evidence on these gains and outcomes for Asian economies (Andrew Rose in his 2004 American Economic Review paper reported similar evidence for other countries). This evidence shows pure and simple that an AFTA membership (which is not beset by Doha Round negotiations difficulties in addition) has robustly performed much better than a WTO membership to meet their trade and growth enhancement objectives. Implications for policy-makers, WTO, UNCTAD and aid or donor agencies? Future resources by regional and global trade and aid agencies should be better spent on high-level trade policy capacity-building (which trade policy?) of AFTA government officials and especially much needed rigorous policy impact (why or what for? and costs and benefits) analysis in this AFTA or other similar trade agreements to obtain significant cost-effective and mutual benefits. The speech was well received by the AFBE participants who included Vietnam Vice Minister of Trade, a Deputy Director of SAMEO and senior business executives, and came from a number of major countries such as the US, the UK, China and Hong Kong, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Oman, New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia.

In the photo taken at the opening of the 2006 AFBE conference at the NATI Conference Centre are, from left to right, Assoc Prof Dr Pham Quang Thao (NATI Rector and Local Organiser); HE Vice Minister of Trade, Mr Tran Duc Minh; Prof Dr Brian Sheehan (President, AFBE); Dr. Wahdi Salasi April Yuhdi (Deputy Director, The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SAMEO)); and Prof Dr Tran Van Hoa

 

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In the photo below taken at the closing of the 2006 AFBE conference at NATI in Hanoi are some of the participants.

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WTO, Vietnam's High-Growth Regions and Risks

30 November 2006, Institute of Economic Studies, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Prof Tran Van Hoa participated, on 30 Nov 2006, in an ARC Linkage Project Workshop on the WTO, Regional Trade Agreements and Their Impact on Vietnam's Southern Regions. The Workshop was organised by the Institute of Economic Studies (IES) of the Ho Chi Minh City People Committee in conjunction with Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Trade, an industry partner of the ARC Linkage Project ASEAN+3 and Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade. Vietnam's southern provinces are known as the country's chief driver of growth, and high expectations on more trade and FDI are generated as a result of Vietnam's official WTO membership in operation by the end of December 2006

Tran Van Hoa pointed out that while high expectations are legitimate for new WTO members, the positive outcomes, from international evidence, may be relatively small, and, from recent historical events in the region, they are also strongly associated with risks (such as domestic turmoil and inappropriate reform policies, regional and global shocks). He called for caution and reservation by policy-makers about the hyped-up outcomes by WTO-oriented advocates and consultants arising from a WTO membership and focus instead on the fundamental issues of competitiveness and comparative advantages in international trade and commerce to support sustainable development and regional economic relations.

In the photo below taken at the conclusion of the Workshop at the IES are, from left to right, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich (Director General, VIT, and ARC Linkage Partner Investigator), Prof Dr Tran Van Hoa (ARC Linkage Chief Investigator), Dr Tran Du Lich (Director, IES), and Assoc Prof Dr Tran Dinh Thien (Institute of Economics, Hanoi) 

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The photo below shows some participants at the Workshop

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WTO and Asian Economic Integration: What Regional and Provincial Economies Gain?

11 August 2006, Hue, Vietnam

While the negotiations for WTO and FTA memberships focus on national or aggregate benefits (and losses), concerns are ripe about the realisation of these benefits (and losses) at the grass-roots, provincial or regional level. It is accepted generally that WTO and FTA memberships, often after long and hard negotiations lasting many years, can bring about more trade, enhanced development and growth, welfare improvement and poverty reduction, otherwise the aspiring countries will not sign the agreements. It is also clear that not all regions and sectors of a member country can uniformly gain from the memberships. In fact, some sectors and regions will lose This painful truth is found both in developed (such as Australia) as well developing countries (eg, China and India).

To investigate this imbalance of gains and losses from WTO or FTA memberships, Tran Van Hoa organised a workshop on 11 August 2006 in the ancient imperial city of Hue, Central Vietnam. The workshop is a research activity of an FTA. Trade and Development in Asia Project supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC), Vietnam Ministry of Trade and the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES) at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. The workshop had the collaboration of the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee. The objectives of the workshop were to investigate the understanding of WTO/FTA memberships at the provincial and regional level, their possible impact on the provincial economies and sectors, and how to bring about benefits to these sectors and regions. More than 35 senior government officials and economic and trade experts attended the workshop where heated discussions and debates were noted. The workshop was nationally televised in Vietnam scoring its significance and interest. 

In the photo below taken at the openning of the workshop at the Dien Bien Hotel in Hue, Central Vietnam, are, from left to right, Dr Nguyen Van Lich (Director-General, Vietnam Institute for Trade, Ministry of Trade, ARC Project Industry Partner), Dr Nguyen Tan Thien (Vice-Chairman, People's Committee of the Thua Thien-Hue Province), Prof Tran Van Hoa (Director, Vietnam and ASEAN+ Research Program, Victoria University, Melbourne, ARC Project Leader), and Prof Tran Than Quoc (Institute of World Economics, Hanoi). 

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Vietnam and Its Implementation Preparation of

WTO and Asian FTA Commitments

7-10 August 2006, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi, Vietnam

Prof Tran Van Hoa recently participated in a series of Policy Advising Workshops and a Dissemination Seminar organized by ACIL-Cardno and Department of Planning and Investment (DPI), Vietnam Ministry of Trade (MOT), in Hanoi, during 7-10 August 2006. The activities were the outcomes in the first round of the 2005-2007 Trade Analysis and Reform Project (TARP) funded by the Australian Government agency AusAID and co-ordinated by ACIL-Cardno to assist government officials in 4 ASEAN countries, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, in their trade policy capacity-building under WTO and Asian FTA commitments.

 The workshops, taking place in Hanoi during 7-9 August 2006, were designed to assist a select group of Vietnam trade officials and academics in carrying out relevant research (1) to prepare available trade options (training) and (2) to propose effective implementable trade policies (mentoring) of the country’s major negotiated commitments under its general economic integration but especially under its forthcoming WTO membership. The specific commitments under study in this round cover (a) import control measures, (b) distribution services and (c) subsidies and countervailing measures. These commitments and, more importantly, their economic, trade, environment and social implications are currently of high priorities managed by MOT as its ministerial functions.

The final research reports were presented at the dissemination seminar (chaired by the Deputy Director-General of DPI, Dr Hoang Thinh Lam) for discussion and media exposure on 10 August 2006 at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi. Over 30 participants from a number of ministries, universities, media organisations and diplomatic missions attended the seminar where vibrant (as assessed by AusAID representative) exchanges of views, ideas, questions and answers on the research outcomes and specially their policy implications were noted, and further major topics to be researched in future TARP programs were suggested by DPI. At the seminar, Prof Tran Van Hoa was interviewed by the government media, Voice of Vietnam, about the research policy outcomes and possible implementation, their methodological robustness and their policy options credibility for broadcasting nationally.

In the photo of some participants below taken at the dissemination seminar at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, on 10 August 2006, are (from left to right, front row) Dr Pham Quang Thao (Rector, National Advanced Training Institute, MOT), Prof Tran Van Hoa (Research Professor and Director, Vietnam and ASEAN+ Research Program, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia), Mr Nguyen Quang Anh (Program Officer, AusAID, Australian Embassy, Hanoi) and Ms Susan McKeag (First Secretary, AusAID, Australian Embassy, Hanoi).

 

Korea and the World Economy V

7-8 July 2006, Korea University, Seoul

Tran Van Hoa participated in the Korea and the World Economy V: Korea and the FTA Conference put on by the Association of the Korean Economic Studies (AKES), Korea Development Institute, Korea University-BK21-Economics, Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) and Washington University (Seattle, USA) at Korea University in Seoul on 7-8 July 2006 to deliver a paper on the impact of economic reforms and global shocks on the Korea economy and trade and to discuss papers presented. While at the Korea University, he also attended a Best Paper Award Ceremony to receive a prize from the AKES for his paper New Asian Regionalism published in the Journal of the Korean Economy in 2004

The photo below taken at the Award Ceremony in the Conference Room of Korea University shows Prof Tran Van Hoa receiving the 2004 Best Paper Award Plaque, looked on by the President of AKES, Prof Sung Tae Ro. 

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Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEF) V Conference,

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) Training Course

5-6 July 2006, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea

Tran Van Hoa attended the APEF V Conference to deliver a paper on the gains and losses of an Australian-China free trade agreement which is currently (2006) under negotiation between the governments of Australia and China. APEF (in contrast to the World Economic Forum) is a new economics society founded in 2001 at Kangwon National University by a group of international renowned economics and trade experts from major countries in the APEC. It holds annual meetings to report and discuss new economics, trade and relations developments in the region. Prof Tran Van Hoa was the APEF Foundation President. The significant novelty of the paper is its use of Tran Van Hoa's generalized gravity theory which has many theoretical advantages and econometric improvements on the traditional CGE/GTAP approach and its various extensions to provide more realistic and credible outcomes and related policy recommendations to policy-makers.

While in Chuncheon, Prof Tran Van Hoa also participated in the training course for sustainable development for young leaders from the Asia Pacific organised by Kangwon National University, Koica and UNESCAP in Bangkok. A total of 20 government officials and media representatives from 14 Asia Pacific countries attended the training course. 

In the photo below taken at the KNU training centre in Chuncheon are the UNESCAP-KNU Asia-Pacific trainees and Prof Tran Van Hoa (5th from right, second row).

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WTO, China and The Asian Economies IV

24-26 June 2006

University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing, China

Tran Van Hoa was an invited speaker at the WTO, China and the Asian Economies IV Conference organised by the UIBE and Washington University (USA) to deliver a paper on China economy, trade and growth and how natural disasters can affect its development. More than 80 economists and experts from 20 countries participated in the conference which took place in the Beijing Grand Continental Hotel within the precinct of the Asian and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

In the photo below taken at a welcoming dinner at the Ting Li Guan Restaurant in the Royal Summer Palace in Beijing are Prof Guijun Lin, Vice-President of UIBE, and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

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AUSTRALIA-MALAYSIA: A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP?

2 June 2006, Windsor Hotel, Melbourne

In spite of their similar political structures, geographical nearness, historical links, and the economic, social and regional cooperation successes of Malaysia in the past few decades, the relationship between Australia and Malaysia has not been easy in recent years at both the commercial and highest political levels. Attention in both countries is needed to improve this relationship for mutual benefits especially with the introduction of the 9th Malaysia Plan. These were the topics for review and discussion at the Australia-Malaysia Forum on 2 June 2006 at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne. The Forum was supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) , the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, and the Centre for Malaysian Studies of the Monash Asia Institute. Notable speakers were  the Hon. Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Malaysia Foreign Minister), Tan Sri Ramon V Navaratnam (Director, Sunway Group Corporate, Monash Malaysia Board of Directors, Malaysia), Dato Dr Michael Yeoh (CEO and Director, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, Malaysia), Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Noi (Managing Director, Metro Kajang Holdings Berhad, and President, ASEAN Association for Planning & Housing), the Hon. Michael Johnson (MP and Chairman, Australia-Malaysia Caucus in the Australian Government), Prof Richard Larkins (VC, Monash University which runs a successful off-shore campus in Malaysia), Prof Stephanie Fahey (Deputy VC, International, Monash University), and senior Australian academics and business executives. A total of more than 100 people attended the Forum and subsequent reception.

At the Forum, Prof Tran Van Hoa raised the question on the recent (Kuala Lumpur, 14 December 2005) proposed enlargement of the ASEAN to include Australia and New Zealand (among other major trading blocs) after Australia decided to sign, after a long delay, the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and the view, if any, of Malaysia about the potential costs, benefits or problems of this regional membership and its impact on the relationship between Australia and Malaysia. This is in the context of a difficult relationship between the two countries in the past.

In the photo below taken at the Windsor Hotel are, from left to right, Prof Tran Van Hoa, Malaysia Foreign Minster, the Hon. Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar, and Ms Elisabeth Hames-Brooks (Honorary Fellow, Monash Asia Institute).

 

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VIETNAM DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPECTS:

A DIPLOMATIC CONCLUSION

26 May 2006, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia

Vietnam’s new (since November 2005) ambassador to Australia, HE Nguyen Thanh Tan, accompanied by his First Secretary, Mr Nguyen Van Nhat, visited Melbourne on 26 May 2006 to deliver his first public lecture in Victoria on Vietnam’s recent economic achievements, reforms, growing trade with Australia (worth $A3,896 million in 2005), and prospects after the country’s 10th Party Congress taking place in Hanoi last April. The visit was organised by the Asia Link in collaboration with the Department of Political Science at the University of Melbourne to keep Australian academics, experts and public informed of the various aspects of economic, trade and political developments in the Asian region. More than 40 people attended the lecture and participated in the ensuing discussions.

Prof Tran Van Hoa attended the lecture and participated in the discussion on Vietnam’s reform successes and contribution to the region’s economic progress, political stability and cooperation. He also suggested, as a strategy for economic growth and further regional cooperation, Vietnam’s stronger links with friendly countries in the region and beyond either through diplomacy, trade or effective ODA programs, to enhance the country’s trading position and capacity building to gain the most from its forthcoming WTO membership expected by the end of 2006.

In the photo below taken at the Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room at the Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne, are, from left to right, Ms Kieu Thanh (Ph D Research Scholar, Faculty of Business and Law, Victoria University), HE Nguyen Thanh Tan (Vietnam Ambassador to Australia), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Ms Elisabeth Hames-Brooks (Honorary Fellow, Monash Asia Institute, Monash University).

 

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WTO MEMBERSHIP AND ASEAN FTA:

IMPACT ON CAMBODIA, LAOS, THAILAND AND VIETNAM

Bangkok 7-11 May 2006

Prof Tran Van Hoa recently participated in the 2006 Regional Progress Workshop, organised by the consulting firm ACIL (Australia) as part of the Trade Analysis and Reform Project (TARP) funded by the Australian Government's AusAID over the period 2005-08, to assist in capacity-building of government officials in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, to prepare and manage their countries' WTO accession negotiations and implementation. A total of 11 research projects of high-priority national interest and specifically dealing with trade and reforms in the context of the WTO and ASEAN free trade agreements were selected by these countries senior government officials for analysis. At the workshop, about 30 government officials were present to report their research progress and to receive feedback from TARP consultants (trainers, mentors and project managers) which included business consultants, well-known academics and senior government officials from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, the UK and Hong Kong.  

In the photo below taken at the closing of the Workshop in the Crystal Ballroom of Holiday Inn in Silom Road, Bangkok, are (first row, from left to right) Prof Tran Van Hoa (Vietnam Mentor, 4th place), Bill Bowen (Laos Mentor, 6th), Ms Raviprapa Srisartsanarat (TARP Project Manager, AusAID, Australian Embassy, Bangkok, 8th), Alan Oxley (Vietnam Trainer, ITS, 9th), and Sam Chittick (TARP Project Manager, ACIL, 14th). 

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AUSTRALIA-CHINA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT:

WHO GAINS AND WHO LOSES?

Capital University of Business and Economics (CUBE) and

Renmin University of China (RUC), Beijing

Beijing, China, 17-18 April 2006

Regional free trade agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in Asia and the Pacific in recent years. As accepted exceptions under the GATT and GATS and born chiefly out of the WTO slow progress and the benign neglect from North America and the European Union of Asia economic and financial woes, these FTAs in fact deal also with investment and economic relations that are outside the WTO scope. Notable among these FTAs are the Australia-Singapore, Australia-Thailand, Australia-US, and the currently under negotiation US-Malaysia, Korea-New Zealand, Korea-4 (Korea, Chile, Brunei and Singapore), Australia-Malaysia and Australia-China. In the case of the Australia-China FTA (ACFTA) under negotiation, substantive evidence on the benefits and losses of a credible kind for FTA members, nationally or at the regional level, has not been adequately studied and reported.

In response to this lack of substantive research and information for informed debates, Tran Van Hoa, with the funding support from Australia Department of Foreign Affairs, AusAID-ISSS Division, and China high-level academic institutions, led a group of ASEAN and Australia experts on regional FTAs to participate in a 2-day 2-university conference and experts symposium in Beijing to report on important new research work by ASEAN, Australian and Chinese experts on sectoral, regional and national gains and losses of an ACFTA to improve informed trade analysis and trade policy by the two countries. Over 25 and 70 ASEAN, Australian and Chinese academics and experts attended the CUBE experts symposium and the RUC conference respectively.  

The photo below taken at the Opening Address given by the Local Organiser, Prof Yanyun Zhao, at the ACFTA Conference in the School of Statistics Building on RUC campus on 18 April 2006 shows some of the participants.

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 In the photo below are, from left to right, (2nd to 7th) Prof Euamporn Tasarika (Thammasat University, Thailand), Dr Pham Lan Huong (Head, Economic Integration Division, CIEM, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam), Sonya McKay (Lawyer and Australia Green Party candidate), Prof Charles Harvie (Director, SME Research Centre, Wollongong University, Australia), Prof Tran Van Hoa (ACFTA Conference Facilitator), and Prof Yanyun Zhao (Director, China Competitiveness Research Center, Renmin University of China in Beijing, and ACFTA Conference Local Organiser). 

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TRADE ANALYSIS AND REFORM PROJECT (TARP) FOR

CAMBODIA, LAOS, THAILAND AND VIETNAM

Bangkok and Hanoi, 12-17 February 2006

Tran Van Hoa recently joined an international team of trainers and mentors to provide high-level training and research capacity-building on the WTO/FTA and its practical policy implementation for government officials in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The TARP is funded by the Australian Government AusAID over three years (2005-07) to the CARDNO-ACIL-ITS consulting consortium. To support the work of TARP, a number of international high-profile and experienced consultants are sourced from universities and private corporations in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and Sri Lanka. A total of 200 government officials from the Commerce and Trade Ministries of the four ASEAN countries above will be trained in five rounds to deal with WTO and FTA rules, commitments. schedules, exemptions and dispute settlements (the usual but highly important chores for WTO/FTA negotiations and implementations) over the TARP duration. 

In the photo below are some members of the TARP trainer and mentor team after the Briefing Session at the Sofitel Hotel Central Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand: (from left to right) Bill Dymond (Director, Centre for Trade Policy and Law, Carlton University, Canada), Alan Oxley (Managing Director, Monash University APEC Study Centre), Bill Bowen (Principal Consultant, ITS Global, Melbourne), Prof Tran Van Hoa (CSES and Director, Vietnam and ASEAN+ Research Program, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia), and Dr Razeen Sally (ISEAS, Singapore).

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The TARP briefings in Hanoi coincided with the celebration of Australia Day (delayed due to the Tet - New Year - on 29 January 2006) in Vietnam held by the Australian Embassy at the Melia, Hanoi. In the photo are Professor Tran Van Hoa and H.E. Bill Tweddle, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam.

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A New Approach to Better Study the Impact of the WTO Membership and Free Trade Agreements: International Recognition

30 January 2006, Chunchon, Korea

The WTO membership and its subsets, regional free trade agreements (FTAs), are considered world-wide the main frameworks to promote trade, development, growth and welfare improvement for member countries. However, the benefits (and costs) of these frameworks are usually perceived in official negotiations and expert debates leading to a WTO/FTA membership more as an article of faith (in free-market economics) than as hard or reliable substantive empirical evidence. The importance of more reliable empirical evidence on this impact of the WTO and FTAs is recognised in the form of the 2004 Best Paper Prize awarded recently by the Association of the Korean Economic Studies (AKES) to a journal article written by Prof Tran Van Hoa, Korea’s Trade, Growth of Trade and the World Economy in Post-crisis ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement: An Econometric and Policy Analysis, Journal of the Korean Economy, 2004, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 73-108. Online access:www.akes.or.kr/jke/index.htm. The paper introduces the Generalised Gravity Theory and a new modelling and impact study approach (with superior properties to existing quantitative methodologies adopted by some academics and international organisations such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank) to investigate and causally explain Korea's spectacular ups-and-downs economic performance in the past 30 years.

ASEAN, China, India: Their Roles in Regional Economic Integration

Monash Asia Institute, Melbourne, 19 January 2006

Regional economic integration (EI) and free trade agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in Asia and Oceania in recent years, resulting in, for example, the current AFTA, ASEAN+3, Australia-Thailand, Australia-Singapore, Japan+Singapore, and the proposed ASEAN+Australia, ASEAN+India and ASEAN+Russia. The ASEAN+ FTAs in particular are important for South East Asian countries in their regional strategic alignment to promote growth, investment, services, economic relations and co-operation, and political dialogue. These issues and the implications of the economic performance and sustainability of China and India or China vis-à-vis India were discussed by Prof B.B. Bhattacharya, the new Vice-Chancellor of India’s prestigious postgraduate university, Jewaharlal Nehru University (JNU), at a recent seminar on India as an Emerging Economic Power: Constraints and Imperatives at Monash Asia Insitute on 19 January 2006. (It is important to note that one of the JNU’s long-established traditions is that JNU’s Vice-Chancellors are appointed by the President of India). During the seminar discussion, Tran Van Hoa raised the issue of comparative economic performance of China and India since India’s well-known Mahalanobis-Plan days in 1960s, and the conditionality and sustainability of the growth of these two giants (and even Japan, Korea and lesser Singapore) essentially on technology transfer and its continuance from the US and the European Union. In addition, both countries still face serious issues of poverty (200 and 160 million poor in China and India respectively) and income inequality (due more to globalisation) that their trade and growth policy should urgently and appropriately address to avoid social unrest.

 In the photo taken before the seminar at the Monash University Medical School lecture-room are Prof Tran Van Hoa and Prof Bhattacharya.

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Methodologies to Measure the Impact of Free Trade Agreements and the WTO

6 December 2005, Hanoi, Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Trade, Vietnam

While there are many ways, from simple to sophisticated, to measure the effects of economic policy and change, and global co-operation, existing methods such as the CGE/GTAP or gravity theory, while popular and useful, may not be appropriate for robust and realistic outcomes because of their structural restrictions and data limitations. A survey of these methods and other new and more reliable approaches (such as the Generalised Gravity Theory proposed in 2002 by Tran Van Hoa and applied extensively) was provided by Tran Van Hoa recently when he attended the Australian Research Council-VIT workshop, organised by the 2004-07 ARC Linkage Industry Partner, VIT, in Hanoi, to deliver a lead lecture on recent methodologies to evaluate the benefits and costs of free trade agreements (FTAs) and the WTO membership. The workshop was also used as a venue for capacity-building for government officials in Vietnam to better formulate and manage economic and trade policy for the country at this stage of its development. More than 40 officials from a number of major ministries, universities and research institutes participated in the workshop.

In the photo below taken at the Conference Centre at the VIT Headquarter, 46 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi, are, from left to right, Doctoral Scholar Ho Trung Thanh, (Head, Research Department, VIT), Dr Pham Lan Huong (Head, Economic Integration Department, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), Ministry of Planning and Investment), Prof Tran Van Hoa (ARC Linkage Project Leader), and Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich (Director-General, VIT, and ARC Linkage Industry Partner).

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Asian Forum on Business Education

30 Nov-2 Dec 2005, Ubonrajathani University, Thailand

The ways business has been conducted in major Asian countries in recent years were discussed at the 10th Asian Forum on Business Education (AFBE) conference organised by the Faculty of Management Sciences at Ubonrajathani University in north-east Thailand during 30 Nov-2 Dec 2005. More than 50 experts, academics, corporate executives, and MBA and DBA students from major countries in Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, participated in the AFBE conference. Prof Tran Van Hoa delivered the first keynote speech in which he contrasted the requirements of free market economics and globalisation and the way Asia actually conducts its business given its political, cultural, social, religious and historical environment. A reminder to the conference participants on the balance between economic efficiency (profit maximising) and equity and income distribution (fairness to all, producer and consumer, buyer and seller, lender and borrower) was also emphasied.

In the photo taken at the conference venue, the Tor Sang Hotel, are, from left to right, Prof Dr Apichai Puntasen (Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, Ubonrajathani University), Prof Tran Van Hoa, Prof  Prakob Wirojanagud (President, Ubonrajatani University), and Prof Brian Sheehan (President and Secretary, AFBE)

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The photo below shows some of the participants at the Opening Ceremony of the 10th AFBE conference.

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Issues of Trade, Development, Investment, Cooperation, and Integration in an Enlarged ASEAN

Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES), Victoria University

24-25 November 2005, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne

Tran Van Hoa convened and organised an important high-level international conference on 24-25 November 2005 at the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES), Victoria University, Melbourne City Campus. The theme of the conference was Issues of Trade, Development and Integration in an Enlarged ASEAN (the Association of the 10 South East Asian Nations) where the ASEAN is to be enlarged to include the world’s other major countries and trading blocs outside the ASEAN region. These include for example China. Japan, Korea, India, Russia, the European Union, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. The significance of this for Australia’s commerce, industry and education is that an ASEAN+China and India bloc alone accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the world’s population, more 54 per cent of Australia’s total international trade, and most of Australia’s sources of supply of international students and education income, present and future.

Funded by the Australian Government’s AusAID and the Faculty of Business and Law, the conference attracted eminent economists and speakers from major countries in an enlarged ASEAN region. These include China (Renmin University of China, Beijing, and Shanghai Jiaotong University), India (Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Reserve Bank of India), Thailand (Ubon Rajathani University), Vietnam (Ministry of Planning and Investment), Britain and Australia/New Zealand. Participants (numbered more than 50) included senior state and federal government officials (eg, Victorian Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), major manufacturing, services and consulting companies (eg, BlueScope Steel, Orica Ltd, Toll Ports, and TradeData), international business education and research units, university scholars and research institutes, and international students from major countries in the ASEAN, Subcontinent, Middle East and EU regions.

Interest was also shown by such organisations in Australia as the NSW-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the Consulate General of Vietnam.

The special focus of the conference was to discuss major issues in trade in merchandise goods, services (including education and finance), investment, across- and inside-border economic integration, corporate culture in international business, poverty reduction through trade, the effectiveness of ODA-related micro-finance programmes, the role of SMEs and agriculture (a major obstacle in on-going WTO negotiations), issues of intellectual properties (eg, pharmaceuticals), issues of large trade surplus for Asian economies, and regional economic relations and cooperation between enlarged ASEAN members. Some of these are timely and major issues for presentation and discussion in the forthcoming agenda of the First East Asia Summit by enlarged ASEAN Heads of State and hosted by the Government of Malaysia taking place on 13-14 December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur.

In the photo below taken at the Conference Opening Ceremony at the Amcor-Commonwealth Bank Suites at the Victorian Arts Centre are, from left to right, Prof Bhajan Grewal (CSES), the Hon Prof Stephen Martin [Pro Vice-Chancellor – International, Victoria University, and former Speaker of the House (Australian Parliament) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade], Prof Peter Sheehan (Director, CSES, VU), Prof Tran Van Hoa (website: http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/CSESBL/), and Prof Shovan Ray (Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Reserve Bank of India)

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 In the photo below are some of the participants attending the conference.

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The photo below, taken at the Vice-Chancellor Conference Suite at Victoria University Melbourne City Campus, shows some of the participants at the roundtable discussion of the First East Asia Summit and other trade, investment, services, and economic co-operation issues.

 

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Impact of Asian Free Trade Agreements and the WTO on China's Regional Development

10-13 November 2005

Capital University of Business and Economics (CUBE), Beijing, and

Dong Bei (North-East) University of Finance and Economics (DUFE), Dalian, China

Four in a network of a total of 30 Universities of Business, Economics and Finance in China recently held an international conference Statistical Modelling and Regional Economic Development in West China at the Capital (Beijing) University of Business and Economics (CUBE), Beijing, to discuss economic development issues in North-East, North-West, Central West and South-West China, and the impact of Asian free trade agreements and the WTO on this regional development. Tran Van Hoa was a keynote speaker at this conference which was funded by businesses and the local and central governments. The conference attracted more than 60 participants from all regions in China, and the papers presented cover a wide range of issues, from FDI, migration, education, and SMEs to regional input/output analysis and mathematical and econometric modelling methodologies. The conference was also hailed as a major success in capacity-building for China at its most vulnerable and still underdeveloped regional level. After the conference, Tran Van Hoa also visited the North-East University of Finance and Economics in Dalian to present a Special Sunday Lecture to over 60 staff and students (see the photo below) on how to measure best the regional impact of recent Asian and global economic and financial developments on exports and growth in the province.

In the photo below are, from left to right, Prof Hong Ji (Head of the Statistics Department, CUBE, and Local Organiser), Prof Tran Van Hoa, Prof Wenju Wang (Vice President, CUBE), and Prof Yanyun Zhao (Director. Center for Competitiveness Studies, and China Center for Applied Statistics, Renmin University of China, and Local Organiser)

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In the photo below are Prof Tran Van Hoa (5th from left, first row, standing) and Prof Charles Harvie (6th, Director, SME Research Centre, University of Wollongong) with some participants in front of the Conference Centre at the Winterless Hotel in Beijing.

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The photo below shows some of the audience at the Special Sunday Lecture given by Prof Tran Van Hoa at Dong Bei (literally East North) University of Finance and Economics (DUFE) in Dalian on Sunday 13 November 2005.

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How to Measure More Reliably the Rural Impact of Asia-Australia Free Trade Agreements
 19 October 2005, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia

Tran Van Hoa was invited to visit the Faculty of Commerce at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga to present a seminar on how to measure more reliably the rural or regional impact of Asia-Australia free trade agreements. These FTAs have proliferated in all regions of the globe and stimulated widespread research and strong academic, corporate and political debates in recent years. A consensus on the benefits and costs of FTAs both at the national and regional or rural level has however not been achieved. In addition, while projected gains and losses for FTA members reflect essentially an article of faith in causal directionality of trade, economic and business activities in FTA negotiations, existing quantitative methodologies such as the CGE/GTAP adopted by the Interntional Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the UNCTAD, or the gravity theory and the panel regression used by some academics, trade researchers and international organisations are restrictive, at best suboptimal and may be even grossly inappropriate. A survey of these methodologies was discussed by Prof Tran Van Hoa at the seminar and a new empirical approach with econometrically superior properties and more realism or data-consistency for proper policy analysis was presented. 

In the photo taken at the seminar are, from left to right, Associate Prof Kishor Sharma (Sub Dean, International Research), Prof Tran Van Hoa,
Prof Eddie Oczkowski, and Chris Deely (Seminar Convenor) 
 

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Measuring Women's Worth in Society and the Economy

28 September 2005, University of Melbourne, Australia

Women's contribution to society and the economy world-wide had been, for more than 100 years, neglected or grossly underestimated by mainstream economics and sociology and, occasionally, even by university and college presidents. This is unfortunate despite the seminal studies on women's market and non-market work and pay or worth by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1898 (Women and Economics), Margaret Reid in 1934 (Economics of Household Production) or Gary Becker (USA) and Duncan Ironmonger (Australia) in more recent years. This perception and deficit have however been rectified to a large extent by significant studies by international experts in the area and published in August 2005 in Tran Van Hoa (editor) Advances in Household Economics, Consumer Behaviour and Economic Policy (Ashgate, Aldershot, UK).

The timely and important book contains recent studies, in honour of Duncan Ironmonger's life-time work, on the state-of-the-art in the measurement and application of household economics and household production, and on new developments of consumer behaviour (essential for effective marketing). More importantly, the book discusses the implications of these advances for more appropriate and effective analysis and formulation of contemporary economic and social and welfare policy in both developed and and developing countries and at the micro and macroeconomic level. The studies contained in the book also point out that women's worth is immense for society and, in an economic sense, far excceds the GDP (as measured routinely so far by market activities only) of a nation.

The book was formally launched by Prof Emeritus Joe Isaac at the invitation of Prof Emeritus Jim Perkins, on 28 September 2005 at the University of Melbourne. Over 35 representatives from universities, state and federal governments, NGOs and the business sector were presented at the launch.

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In the photo below taken at University House, University of Melbourne, at the book's launch are, from left to right, Dr Duncan Ironmonger (Director, Households Research Unit, Department of Economics, University of Melbourne), Dr Barry Jones (President, Australian Labor Party), Prof Tran Van Hoa, and Prof Peter Sheehan (Director, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University).

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Asia and Regional Development in Australia

23 September 2005

Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia

Tran Van Hoa attended and delivered a keynote speech at the 2005 Asia Update Forum in Orange on 23 September 2005. The Forum is a major annual regional event organised by Prof Kevin Parton, Dean and Campus Director, Faculty of Rural Management, and with the sponsorships from the government and private sectors. The purposes of the Forum are a compact venue where invited speakers from the local, state and national government departments, academics, and private corporation representatives get together to review recent trends and developments regionally, nationally and internationally, with a view to assist rural Australia in international business, trade and investment developments in the medium and long term.

Speakers at the 2005 Forum included the Director General of the NSW Regional and State Development Department, First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ABARE senior economist, Austrade commissioner, Chairman of the Central West Regional Development Board, Prof Tran Van Hoa, Prof Stephanie Fahey (University of Sydney), an MLA, and the regional manager of DEVRO.

In the photo taken at the Forum function below are, from left to right (standing), 1st, Mr Sandy Morrison (Chair, Central West Regional Development Board); 2nd, Jammie Penn (ABARE); 3rd partly obscured, Mr Loftus Harris (Director General, NSWRSDD); 4th, Prof Stephanie Fahey (Pro Vice Chancellor and Director, Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, Sydney University); 9th, Prof Kevin Parton (Forum Organiser); 11th, Prof Tran Van Hoa; and 14th, Dan Williams, Trade Commissioner at the Australian Embassy in the Philippines.

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ASEAN+3 FREE TRADE AGREEMENT AND AUSTRALIA-VIETNAM TRADE

6 September 2005, Ministry of Trade, Hanoi, Vietnam

Tran Van Hoa recently participated in an ARC workshop on ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement and Recent Trends in Trade and Development in ASEAN at the Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), Ministry of Trade (MOT), in Hanoi. The workshop was organised by the ARC Industry Partner, VIT, and was a venue to report the progress research work of the first stage of activities of the ARC Linkage Project ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement and Its Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade. At the workshop, aspects and issues of FTAs, recent trends in trade, investment, development, growth, and regional economic relations were presented and discussed by Prof Tran Van Hoa (the ARC Chief Investigator) and VIT researchers. More than 30 MOT government officials attended the workshop.

A fieldtrip for the ARC Chief Investigator to a southern province in Vietnam, Nha Trang, was also organised by VIT following the workshop. The purpose was to have a better understanding of regional challenges, opportunities, and concern about the impact of the ASEAN+3 FTA and the responses that may be prepared.

In the photo below taken at the workshop are, from left to right, Ho Trung Thanh (ARC VIT Project Manager), Prof Tran Van Hoa, Dr Nguyen Van Thanh (Deputy Director General, VIT), and Nguyen Van Duong (Director, International Office, VIT).

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In the photo below is a view of participants at the workshop at VIT headquarters in Hanoi.

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15th International Input-Output Association Conference
Renmin University of China, Beijing, 28 June-1 July 2005

During 28-29 June 2005, Tran Van Hoa also attended, as an IOA delegate invited by the Local Organiser, the 15th Interntional Conference of the Input Output Association that took place at Run Run Shaw Conference Center at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. The Conference was highly significant in that it was the first ever IIOA conference taking place in China. It was organised by the Local Organiser, Prof Yanyun Zhao, Director, Center for Applied Statistics, with the support from the RUC, China Statistics Bureau, and several other national oganisations. Topics for presentation in panel forum and contributed paper sessions and discussion include recent advances and applications in I/O analysis at both regional and national level. At the opening panel forum, Tran Van Hoa raised the issue of neglect by IO experts in their reveiw on the household (as opposite to the market)  production sector. This sector acoounts, by international statisticians, for a greater GDP than the Kuznets-type GDP as reported routinely by national and international statistical bureaux worldwide.

In the photo below taken in front of the School of Staitsics Building at Renmin University of China are, from left to right, Prof Qiyun Liu (IIOA Vice President, China) , Prof Yanyun Zhao (IIOA Vice President, China, and Conference Local Organiser), Prof Karen Rosel Polemke (former IIOA President, and Prof, Department of Urban Studies, MIT, USA), and Prof Tran Van Hoa,

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WTO, China and Other Asian Economies
X'ian Jiaotong University, X'ian, China, 25-26 June 2005

Tran Van Hoa recently attended the International Conference on the WTO, China and Asian Economies taking place at the X'ian Jiaotong University (XJTU) in X'ian which, to many, is the ancient birthplace of China's history and at the heart of the contemporary development high-priority Western China region. The Conference was sponsored by Washington University in Seattle (USA), the European Institute based at Fudan University in Shanghai, and the XJTU. More than 40 participants from different parts of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, the US, Malaysia, and Australia contributed to the presentation of their major research reports and lively discussions. The topics in 24 papers cover in two days trade theory and policy, investment, exports, economic policy reform and regional and global shocks, development and growth. and economic integration. The Conference proceedings were televised by Shan'xi TV.

In the photo below taken at the Conference Opening Ceremony at the X'ian Jiaotong University Conference Center are, from left to right, Prof Tran Van Hoa, Ms Aq Ying Gao (Shan'xi TV Representative) and Prof Zongxian Feng (Head of Department of Economics and Finance, XJTU), the Local Conference Organiser.

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Development and Co-operation in
the Mekong River Economies: Issues and Prospects

An AusAID-funded International Workshop
Hanoi 29-30 March 2005, NATI, Vietnam Ministry of Trade
 

An important international workshop with the theme Impact of the WTO and Regional Economic Integration on Development and Trade in the Mekong River Subregion Economies recently took place at the National Advanced Training Insitute (NATI), Vietnam Ministry of Trade, in Hanoi.

Facilitated by Prof Tran Van Hoa (Department of Economics, and Director, ASEAN+3 and Vietnam Focus Research Program, University of Wollongong, Australia), funded by AusAID, Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, locally organised by the NATI (Rector, Dr Pham Quang Thao), and co-sponsored by Prof Peter Sheehan, Director, the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia), the workshop attractedan unusually large number (more than 140 participants, see photo below) of senior experts, government officials and business executives from Vietnam and overseas. Vietnam Vice Minister of Trade, H.E. Tran Duc Minh, officially opened the workshop and gave a keynote address on major issues and important aspects of the workshop theme from Vietnam's perspective. Other workshop speakers on the national, regional and global focus issues include Prof  Yanyun Zhao, Renmin University of China in Beijing, Prof  Charles Harvie (Department of Economics and Director, the SME Research Centre, University of Wollongong), Prof Euamporn Tasarika (Thammasat University, Thailand), and Prof Tran Van Hoa.

Major issues for presentation and discussion were focused on the turbulent history of the economies in the GMS, their current economic and trade development nationally and within the framework of the WTO and regional economic integration, and the need for their co-operation to enhance their mutually important economic, commerce and political benefits in the medium and long term.
The workshop papers and discussion were widely reported in the English (eg, Viet Nam News and Vietnam Investment Review, 30 March 2005) and Vietnamese mass media.

In the photo below, taken in the NATI auditorium at the opening ceremony of the workshop, are, from left to right, Prof Yanyun Zhao (P.R. China), Prof Charles Harvie (Britain), Prof Euamporn Tasarika (Thailand), H.E. Tran Duc Minh, Vietnam Vice Minister of Trade, Prof Tran Van Hoa (Australia), and Dr Pham Quang Thao (Rector, NATI, MOT, Vietnam).
 

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In the photo below taken at the workshop during discussion are Prof Tran Van Hoa (left) and Mr Phanh Vilaysom, Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of the Lao People Democratic Republic (PDR).
 

http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/csesbl/images/Conf-05-Laos.JPG

Below is a photo of some of the participants, coming from the major ministries, national and international agencies, and national and transnational companies in Vietnam, attending the Workshop.
 

http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/csesbl/images/Conf-05-Attend.JPG
 

ASEAN+3 Free Trade Agreement:
Impact on Australia-Vietnam Trade and Investment
10 November 2004, Vietnam Institute for Trade, Hanoi
 

With the slow progress and still extensive disagreements on the Doha agenda and other WTO contentious issues, bilateral and plurilateral FTA and Closer Economic Relation (CER) Framework have proliferated especially in the Asian region in recent years. Within the economic foundation of the WTO objectives which is based essentially on a perfectly competitive economic model where economic and other benefits are gained by unhindered access to and movement of output and factors of production across markets (seeTran Van Hoa's Competition Policy and Global Competitiveness in Major Asian Economies, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2003), these FTAs include the important AFTA, ASEAN+3,  Japan-Singapore, Australia-US, Australia-Thailand, and the proposed ASEAN+5, ASEAN+India and Australia-China. Benefits of these FTAs have so far been restricted to useful academic and political debates and dialogues on FTAs, plausible expectations from FTAs and CER between FTA members. Empirical support for the FTA-focussed comprehensive (that is, trade in goods, services, investment, competition and CER) benefits of FTAs have not been adequately dealt with, especially with existing inadequate methodologies with limited structure, scope and time spectrum such as the CGE/GTAP, gravity theory, and panel regression which are being used routinely by numerous national and international organisations including the IMF, the WTO and UNCTAD.

A new methodology with substantial and realistic improvements on economic structure, scope in trade, time-series data consistency and superior estimation and impact features has been proposed in a major international linkage research project to study an important regional economic and trade issue in Asia: the Impact of ASEAN+3 FTA on Australia-Vietnam TradeFunded by the Australian Government Research Council (ARC) for the period 2004-07, the project is managed by Prof Tran Van Hoa (the Chief Investigator) and with the collaboration of the Director-General (the Industry Partner Investigator), Prof Nguyen Van Lich, of Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT), a division of Vietnam Ministry of Trade. VIT-funds matching ARC grant were provided by Vietnam Ministry of Trade under the sponsorship of HE Le Danh Vinh, Vice Minister of Trade. Substantive empirical outcomes from the project are expected to provide timely, robust and reliable policy recommendations to both the governments and trade agencies in Australia and Vietnam to enhance their trade and economic well-being and regional cooperation and, as a result, stability and security in the region. Applications of the methodology to other FTAs such as the recent Australia-US and Australia-Thailand and the proposed ASEAN+India and Australia-China are also contemplated.

In the photo below taken at the Signing Ceremony of the ARC Linkage Project at the Vietnam Institute for Trade's conference  centre at its headquarter, 46 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi, are from left to right, Ms Nguyen Thi Nga (VIT Interpreter), Prof Dr Nguyen Van Lich (VIT Director-General), H.E. Le Danh Vinh (Vietnam Vice-Minister for Trade), H.E. Joe Thwaites (Australian Ambassador to Vietnam), and Prof Tran Van Hoa. The Signing Ceremony was nationally televised and reported in the radio and print media.
 
 

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What's New in Sex Discrimination and Economic Policy

4 November 2004
Department of Economics, University of Wollongong

Pru Goward, Australia's Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, visited the University of Wollongong on 4 November 2004 to deliver the 2004 Economic and Social Policy Lecture. The lecture is a major annual event organised by the Department of Economics with a focus on significant public policy issues and nationally prominent speakers. Pru's lecture was on Work and Family Issues in the new John Howard Federal Government's Agenda and covered recent improvements or successes in women's participation in the economy's workforce. The lecture was given at the same time Tran Van Hoa completed his new bookAdvances in Household Economics, Consumer Behaviour and Economic Policy (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, London, 2004, in press) in which internationally well-known economists, working and writing on household production, unpaid work, satellite accounts, their important measurements, and use of new consumer demand systems and modelling for social security and welf