a group shot from EUTIP 2019

An additional EUTIP Advanced Training Course (ATC7) on “EU-Asian Perspectives on Trade and Investment” was organised by Martin Trybus (University of Birmingham) and Mary Footer (University of Nottingham).

The ATC was hosted by Soo Yean Kim of the Department of Political Science of the National University of Singapore (NUS) at the NUS Kent Ridge Campus in Singapore on 4 and 5 November 2019. EUTIP (European Trade and Investment Policy) is a Horizon2020 funded Marie Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) of 11 institutions led by Martin Trybus from Birmingham. The workshop was attended by 14 Early Stage Researchers of EUTIP, the speakers, and a small number of PhD students from Singapore.

EUTIP was originally planned as an ITN on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTTIP-ITN) and ATC3 specifically dealt with the US perspective and was to be followed by an additional ATC at the George Washington University in DC. However, after the recalibration of the ITN, away from it’s original focus on EU trade with the US, an outside perspective from other important trading partners, namely in Asia was needed. This was the main objective of this ATC7 in Singapore, too provide perspectives from Korea, Japan, China, and of course Singapore. However, in order to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and opinions between the EUTIP members and the Asian participants of the event, papers delivered by EUTIP academics complemented the programme.  

On the first day participants were welcomed by Associate Professor Soo Yeon Kim, National University of Singapore and Professor Mary Footer, University of Nottingham, UK before Professor Martin Trybus, EUTIP-Network Coordinator & Director of Research, University of Birmingham, UK provided an introduction into The objectives of EUTIP. Then the following papers were presented: Kirthana Ganeson and Associate Professor Soo Yeon Kim, National University of Singapore: Has the ASEAN Economic Community led to more protectionism in the ASEAN region?; Professor Elaine Fahey, City University London, UK:  On Metrics: Measuring the EU as a Good Global Governance Actor; Dr Jiangyu Wang, National University of Singapore: China, BRI, and Regional Trade Arrangements; Dr Henry Gao, Singapore Management University: CPTTP and the RCEP. In the afternoon the following papers were delivered: Professor Gabriel Felbermeyr, ifw Kiel, Germany:  The Economics of the EU-Japan Trade Agreement; Pushan Dutt, INSEAD, Singapore: The WTO Is Not Passé; Professor Zhigang Tao, University of Hong Kong: US-China Trade Disputes; and Professor Paolo Epifani, University of Nottingham, UK and Ningbo, China, Capital Flows from Developing Countries: A view from trade.

 On day 2 the following papers were delivered: Professor Won-Mog Choi, WTO Law Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea: The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement: the Korean Experience; Professor Yuka Fukunaga, Waseda University, Japan: The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement from a Japanese Perspective; Jansen Calamita, National University of Singapore: The Development of the EU’s Policy on ISDS; Professor Fabian Amtenbrink, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands:  The EU Regulation on Foreign Investment Screening; and Chin Heng Ong, International Affairs Division, Attorney General’s Chambers, Singapore: The EU-Singapore FTA and EU-Singapore IPA:  Interesting Features & Trends from Singapore’s Perspective.