SMITHFIELD & PROVIDENCE – A two-day conference next week, sponsored by Bryant University and the Watson Institute for International Relations at Brown University, will explore the issues raised for for other countries by the rapid growth and expansion of trade with India and China.
“The Rise of the New Asian Giants: Adaptive Strategies in the World Economy” begins Friday, April 13, from 1 to 5:45 p.m., in the Grand Hall of the George E. Bello Center on Bryant’s Smithfield campus, and continues Saturday, April 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Watson Institute in Providence.
“Rapid economic expansion by the new Asian giants is presenting a major challenge for developing countries and increasing tensions among major powers,” said Barbara Stallings, director of the Watson Institute and co-coordinator of the event. “The conference will provide uncommon insight into these issues by gathering academics, business leaders and policymakers – each of whom brings a different perspective.”
Friday’s speakers will include Linda Droker, director of South Asia and Oceania for the U.S. Department of Commerce; Iren Borissova, special advisor to the Trade Section of the Delegation of the European Commission; Trevor G. Houser, a China and visiting fellow at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies; George Shuster, chairman and CEO of the Cranston Print Works; Larry Liebenow, president and CEO of Quaker Fabrics; Thea Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO; and several Bryant University faculty and officials.
Saturday’s speakers will include David Rocks, senior editor of BusinessWeek; Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics; Devesh Kapur, director of the Centre for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania; Keun Lee, a professor of economics at Seoul National University; Marcos Jank, president of the Brazilian Institute for International Trade Negotiations and associate professor at the University of São Paulo’s School of Economics and Business; Catherine Mann, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics; and members of the Brown and Bryant faculty and administration.
“Projections to the mid-21st century place China and India on an ascending trajectory, while the dominance of Europe and the United States recedes,” said economist Nancy Biersteker, a Bryant University faculty member and co-coordinator of the conference. “This conference … [aims] to identify successful policies and approaches that could be adapted for use elsewhere.”
The event is part of a partnership with the R.I. Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales University and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. It has corporate sponsorship from UPS.
The two-day conference is free to Bryant and Brown faculty staff and students, and $95 for others; Saturday-only attendance is free. To register, call Bryant’s John H. Chafee Center for International Business at 232-6407. Additional information, including the full schedule, is available at www.watsoninstitute.org.
