Balancing Competing Visions for Indo-Pacific Trade

As the trade environment in the Indo-Pacific region continues to evolve, new visions for the future of regional trade policy have emerged. Attempts at decoupling, rising protectionist sentiment, and supply chain shifts brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and broader concerns about supply chain vulnerabilities have led to new ways of thinking about trade policy in the region. Unpacking these competing interests in a complex environment is critical if the United States and its allies and partners are to pursue an Indo-Pacific trade policy that is coherent, realistic, and in line with shared values. This event examined these competing approaches to Indo-Pacific trade and discussed the roles and strategies of some of the region’s key players in trade.

On, June 30, 2021, NBR held a virtual discussion on the latest trends and policies in Indo-Pacific trade. The discussion considered the implications of shifting trade and supply chain dynamics and examined how various countries in the region are responding.

Agenda

WELCOME REMARKS

Michael Wills, The National Bureau of Asian Research

OPENING REMARKS

Charles Boustany, The National Bureau of Asian Research

PANEL DISCUSSION | New Visions for Indo-Pacific Trade

Nigel Cory, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Etel Solingen, University of California Irvine
Additional panelist TBA.

PANEL DISCUSSION | Regional Approaches and Issues

Alan Bollard, Wellington School of Business and Government
Lotta Danielsson, US-Taiwan Business Council
Arvind Panagariya, Columbia University

CLOSING REMARKS

Michael Wills, The National Bureau of Asian Research

About the Speakers

Alan Bollard is a Professor of Practice at the School of Government, Wellington School of Business and Government, and inaugural holder of the Chair for Pacific Region Business. He is also New Zealand Governor of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. From 2012 to 2018 Dr. Bollard was the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat based in Singapore, the world’s largest regional body that promotes trade, investment, and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining APEC, Bollard was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012. In that position, he was responsible for monetary policy and bank regulations, helping steer New Zealand through the global financial crisis. From 1998 to 2002, Dr. Bollard was the Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. As the government’s principal economic adviser, he managed the Crown’s finances and helped guide economic policy. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland.

Nigel Cory is Associate Director, Trade Policy, at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. He focuses on cross-border data flows, data governance, intellectual property, and how these issues relate to digital trade and the economy. Previously, he worked as a researcher in the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Cory also had diplomatic postings in Malaysia and Afghanistan working on topics such as bilateral and regional trade, economic, and security issues. He has an MA in public policy from Georgetown University and a BA in international business and commerce from Griffith University.

Lotta Danielsson is the Vice President of the US-Taiwan Business Council, where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization. Additionally, she has planned the annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference—which serves as an important platform for bilateral dialogue on Taiwan’s national security and defense needs—since its inception in 2002. Ms. Danielsson has served as vice president since 2003, when she was promoted from Director of Corporate Affairs, a position she had held since joining the council in 2000. Previously she worked as a consultant and marketer for the Beijing Sun-King Paper Company, where she helped launch a new paper brand into the Beijing market. She has lived, studied, and worked in Asia, Europe, and North America and is a native-level speaker of Swedish and English. She holds an International MBA (Chinese Track) from the University of South Carolina.

Arvind Panagariya is a Professor of Economics and Indian Political Economy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. His focus areas include international trade policy, economic development, and economic reforms with a focus on India. Panagariya is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has also worked with the World Bank, IMF, and UNCTAD, in addition to serving as the first vice chairman of the NITI Aayog Government of India in the rank of a cabinet minister. Panagariya holds a PhD degree in Economics from Princeton University.

Etel Solingen is Distinguished Professor and the Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California Irvine. She received the 2019 Distinguished Scholar award in International Security from the International Studies Association and the 2020 Susan Strange Professorship at the London School of Economics. She is a former President of the International Studies Association and has published on the relationship between international political economy and international security, globalization and its discontents, comparative regional orders, and global supply chains, among other topics. Her book Nuclear Logics: Contrasting Paths in East Asia and the Middle East (2007) won the American Political Science Association’s Woodrow Wilson Award for best book in the discipline of political science and the ISA’s Jervis and Schroeder Award for best book on international history and politics. Other books include Regional Orders at Century’s Dawn (1999), Geopolitics, Supply Chains and International Relations of East Asia (ed. 2021), Comparative Regionalism (2014), and more.

Michael Wills is Executive Vice President at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). He manages all aspects of NBR’s financial and business operations, including program and business development and corporate strategic planning, and serves as secretary to the Board of Directors. His research expertise includes geopolitics, international security, and the international relations of Asia, with a particular interest in China’s relations with Southeast Asia. Mr. Wills is co-editor or contributing editor of eleven Strategic Asia volumes and several other edited volumes on Asian security and is a member of the Asia Policy journal’s editorial advisory committee. He holds a BA (Honors) in Chinese studies from the University of Oxford.