Friday, June 16th, 2006
Alumni Unite via GDLN
Hitotsubashi University Holds Seminar to Forge Ties Across Asia
Hitotsubashi University's Asian Public Policy Program (APPP) held a virtual "reunion" on June 16, 2006 via the GDLN. The first of two sessions planned for this year, over 30 current master degree students, PhD candidates and faculty gathered at the TDLC to connect with alumni in Beijing, Manila, Jakarta and Hanoi for discussions on recent policy issues in Asia. Waving to each other across the screen, the event provided an enjoyable new opportunity to strengthen ties and exchange information within the region's alumni network.
The APPP is an international program launched in the year 2000 with an emphasis on economic policy management. Each year, it accepts young professionals from Asia who wish to pursue careers in the public sector, and serves as a center for knowledge exchange between academic researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. With a growing number of alumni across the region, keeping up with each other on a regular basis was not easy - thus the need for videoconferencing.
The moderator in Tokyo, Professor Yasuhiro Maehara, opened the session with a presentation on the Second Seminar held under the Hitotsubashi Executive Program for Macroeconomic Policymakers in April 2006. Considered of value for APPP alumni as well, Professor Maehara introduced the Seminar expressing hopes that "someday, you will return to participate in the Seminar as officials involved in policy making".
In a relaxed atmosphere, professional presentations continued from Beijing on "New Rural Construction and Fiscal Policy" by Mr. Chen Shaoqiang, Research Institute for Fiscal Science, Ministry of Finance, China; from Manila on "Planning for the Future: Public Sector Reforms in the Philippines and the 2007 Proposed Budget" by Ms. Hazel Marie A. Sarmiento, Budget and Management Specialist, Fiscal Planning Bureau, Department of Budget and Management, Philippines; from Jakarta on the "Outlook of the Indonesian Economy for 2006" by Mr. Ledi Trialdi and Mr.Shauqie Azar, both Research Associates, Institute for Economics and Social Research, University of Indonesia Faculty of Economics; and from Hanoi on "New Enterprise Law and Changes Related to State Management Over SOEs" by Mr. Nguyen Hoang Duong, Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.
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