Trade and Investment in Myanmar’s National Reform and Development
Workshop
Tuesday, 29 April 2014

Program
Session 1

• Introduction and welcome
• The opportunities and issues: Peter Drysdale, ANU
• Current performance and future potential: Shiro Armstrong, ANU
• Economic openness and the framework for economic and social reform: Robb Preston

Session 2

• Trade liberalisation and externally oriented reform: Tony Swan, ANU
• Getting investment strategy right: Sam Reinhardt
• Connecting the national to the international market: Sean Turnell, Macquarie University
• Trade and investment diplomacy: Philippa Dee, ANU

Reference materials

• AEC priorities assessments and Myanmar papers
• Infrastructure papers
• MDRI-MSU project ‘Strategic choices for the future of agriculture in Myanmar’
• McKinsey Global Institute ‘Myanmar’s moment’ report
• Myanmar’s integration with Global Economy: Outlook and Opportunities

Chinese Outward Direct Investment (ODI) has surged and Australia has been its largest single ultimate destination over the past half-decade. The East Asia Bureau of Economic Research, in conjunction with Leeds University and the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, has been conducting a project examining Chinese ODI. This project aims to identify the principal characteristics and drivers of Chinese ODI and examine the interaction between Chinese firms and the market and regulatory structures in which they operate in China and invest overseas.

This project has lead to the organisation of several conferences both at the Crawford School at ANU and in partner institutions overseas. Details on the conferences organised are available below:

1. The Economic and Political Impact of Chinese Overseas Direct Investment, a public forum held at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business;
2. Questions on China’s Investment, a public forum held at the Crawford School of Public Policy;
3. EABER participated in a conference co-hosted by the Brenthurst Foundation and the Australian Security Policy Institute (ASPI) on natural resources and China’s development. The proceedings have been published by ASPI as the special report Fueling the dragon.

This ongoing stream of work has also led to the publication of scholarly articles, including a special issue of China and the World Economy and a series of working papers, available below. The findings of this research and its implications have also been disseminated to a wider public of academics and policy makers through a special issue of our publication, the East Asia Forum Quarterly, titled China’s investment abroad, as well as a series of short articles on the subject on the East Asia Forum.

Other working papers

Cui, Lin Governance role of secondary shareholders: A study of Chinese outward foreign direct investment, EABER working paper series &#8470 77

Hanemann, Thilo & Rosen, Daniel H. Chinese Direct Investment in the United States, EABER working paper series &#8470 78

Hurst, Luke, Yuan, Peter & Findlay, Christopher Chinese direct investment in Australia: public reaction, policy response, investor adaptation, EABER working paper series &#8470 81

Liao, Shuping & Zhang, Yongsheng Strategies for Managing China’s State-owned Foreign Direct Investment, EABER working paper series &#8470 76

McNamee, Terence Competitor, Colonizer or Developer? The Many Faces of China in Africa, EABER working paper series &#8470 79

Wang, Bijun & Huang, Yiping Industry and Ownership Structure of Chinese Overseas Direct Investment, EABER working paper series &#8470 75

The South Asian and East Asian Economic Integration and Australia: Strategies for Asian Regional Cooperation project is a major SABER-EABER Project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through an ARC-AusAID Industry Partnership initiative to be completed over five years. The project is conducting research on the underlying trade and economic structures of the South Asia region through engaging research and policy think tanks and governments around the region in collaborative research. It is attempting to establish research infrastructure, both within Australia and within South Asia, helpful in progressing regional economic integration. It will examine the dimensions of domestic reform in India and Pakistan that are important to their economic integration into the wider Asian and international economies. This work has been extended to include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. The project is expected to influence policy through the promotion of best policy practices which have been appropriately tailored to the specific circumstances of the region.

This project within the South and East Asian Economic Integration initiative seeks ways to improve policy processes and regional cooperation mechanisms for promoting efficient trade, investment and development in South Asia, and its integration into the wider Asian region.

It will study the institutional circumstances affecting the efficiency of economic policy formation, development and implementation in key South Asian economies and compare them with institutions and practices within the region and elsewhere; it will examine the scope for international support in strengthening institutional capacities; and it will seek to formulate recommendations on institutional design aimed at improving policy outcomes targeted to individual economies in South Asia.

To serve this aim, the project is commissioning research papers from key research institutes around the region that will:

• review the recent policy reform experience in that country;
• outline the next big two or three policy reform priorities that are recognised by the government or the community of that country;
• identify the binding institutional constraints that have prevented (or will prevent) good policy outcomes;
• identify positive institutional approaches that have helped to deliver good policy outcomes.

In 2008 EABER started a five year project on Advancing Economic Integration in South and East Asia which was had its first conference in New Delhi with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in April.

The project brings together EABER institutes from East Asia and a new network of South Asian research institutes. It is the only one of its kind that brings South Asian and East Asian researchers together to share experiences, policy performance, best practice methodologies and create a much needed dialogue where there has not been one.

CASS-EABER Conference: Financial Sector Reforms and Economic Integration in Asia (Beijing: 14-15 May 2009)

IGIDR-ANU Conference: Financial and Macroeconomic Issues in Asian Economic Integration (Mumbai: 17 November 2008)

NCAER-EABER Conference: Micro-Economic Foundations of Economic Policy Performance in Asia (New Delhi: 3-4 April 2008)

Conference papers available from NCAER website

Country Policy Meetings
27 March 2007. Held in Beijing, China.

Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU) in Thailand initiated a project with EABER in 2007. The initial research initiatives will include research into Higher Education financing and loan systems. The first of such research initiatives commenced in September 2007 and has begun to address issues related to the Financing of Higher Education in Thailand.

The first major international conference was held in Bangkok in July this year.
Education and Development: The Role of Higher Education