Networking
and Seminars on Asian Economic Community in China and Japan
As
a part of the follow-up of the RIS research on economic integration
in Asia , RIS has made attempts to establish networking links
with leading think-tanks in China and Japan.
Development
Research Center of the State Council, Beijing
During
his trip to Beijing on 3-4 April 2003, DG-RIS, Dr Nagesh Kumar,
visited the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council
and made a presentation on A Framework for India-China Economic
Partnership on 4 April 2003. DRC is a top-level policy think-tank
of the State Council (or Cabinet) of China. The presentation was
attended by about 25 experts having representation of, besides DRC
faculty, many influential think-tanks and government agencies such
as the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations,
China Institute of International Studies, Ministry of Commerce (formerly
MOFTEC), scholars from Beijing University, officials from Asia Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Xinhua News Agency.
The
presentation was co-chaired by Professor Lan Weiban, Deputy Director-General,
and Professor Li Tonglian, Director-General, International Cooperation
Department, DRC.
The
presentation touched upon the recent trends in India-China trade
and its potential in view of the complementarities and argued for
cooperation between India and China in building an Asian Economic
Community for exploiting the region’s vast resources for mutual
development, drawing upon our recent work on the subject. The presentation
evoked a lot of response from the audience who posed questions on
constraints in promoting bilateral economic relations, the relevance
and possible obstacles to the Asian Economic Community, among other
issues.
After
the presentation, the issues concerning the inter-institutional
cooperation and exchange of delegations between DRC and RIS were
discussed. In view of DRC’s on-going research programme on Asian
economic integration, there would be synergies between DRC and RIS.
Chinese
Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Beijing
During
his stay in Beijing, Dr Nagesh Kumar was also invited to give a
Seminar on the Relevance of Asian Economic Community at the Chinese
Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC).
This Meeting was chaired by Dr. Li Yushi, Vice President of the
CAITEC, Ministry of Commerce, (formerly MOFTEC) and was attended
by senior officials of the Academy. RIS has already established
some contacts with CAITEC as one of its researchers Mr. Li Wei had
participated in RIS Conference on Asian Economic Community in March
2003 and made a presentation on relevance of an India-China FTA.
The CAITEC is the think-tank of the Ministry of Commerce covering
work on WTO issues, Asia Pacific cooperation, multinational enterprises,
among others, and brings out reports on Foreign Trade Situations
in China.
The
presentation at CAITEC drew upon RIS’ recent work on the subject
to make a strong case for the Asian Economic Community which could
cover Japan, ASEAN, China, India and Korea (JACIK) in the first
phase. The presentation was followed by an intensive discussion
on various issues concerning the Asian economic integration. The
overall response was quite favourable and provoked a lot of interest
among the audience.
The
discussion with CAITEC also covered exchange of publications and
networking with RIS.
Dr
Kumar also visited Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences (CASS) (Professor Sun Shihai, Deputy Director
and Professor Wang Hongwei), and discussed the issues concerning
bilateral economic relations between India and China.
China
Centre for Contemporary World Studies, Beijing
A
delegation consisting Mr. Yu Hongun, Director, China Centre for
Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), Beijing; Mr. Zhou Yuyun, Research
Fellow, CCCWS; Mr. Mou Hong, Researcher, CCCWS; Mr. Feng Wei and
Mr. Chen Ying, Assistant Researchers, CCCWS; and Mr. Shi Xiaohu,
CCCWS; along with Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, Director, Centre for
Strategic Studies, India visited RIS on 16 April 2003 for an interactive
session at which Dr Nagesh Kumar, Director General, RIS made a presentation
on Reforms, Economic Performance, and a Perspective on Bilateral
Economic Relations with China. Members of the RIS Faculty also participated
in the discussions.
Institute
of Developing Economies of JETRO, Tokyo, Japan
During
his visit to Tokyo on 16-17 June 2003, Dr Nagesh Kumar visited the
Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) of JETRO, Chiba and delivered
a seminar presentation on the Relevance of Asian Economic Community
on 17 June 2003 at the IDE’s seminar room. The presentation was
well attended and was followed up by intensive discussion. In general
the audience agreed with main contention of the presentation that
Asia needs to move towards regional economic integration and that
JACIK provided a way forward.
The
presentation was followed by a meeting with senior officials of
the International Cooperation Department of IDE on the possibilities
of institutional cooperation. RIS and IDE agreed on networking arrangement,
involving exchange of publications, exchange of faculties for short-term
visiting fellowships, to explore future collaborative research,
particularly for the proposed RIS Conference to be organized in
Tokyo in 2004 on JACIK.
Dr
Kumar also visited the headquarters of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
and had a meeting with its President Mr Akira Iriyama, besides ADB
Institute and the National Institute for Research Advancement during
his stay in Tokyo.
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