This is the 6^th in the series of the Conference on International Economic Cooperation and Integration (CIECI), which was initiated and implemented in 2013 by a strong research team on Economic Integration of VNU University of Economics and Business.

Attending the conference were representatives from state departments, leaders of the 4 co-organizers and nearly 200 delegates being policy makers, scholars, graduate students and doctoral students from state agencies, universities and research institutions.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Truc Le - Rector of VNU University of Economics and Business delivers the opening speech

Lecturers, economists and students attending the conference

This year, the conference focused on international trade and global supply chains in the context of the US-China trade war, tightening global financial conditions and the development of the digital economy and circular economy, etc. Being prepared for over 3 months, the Conference Organizing Committee received many high quality articles focusing on 5 main topic groups: (1) Macroeconomic context and impacts on global supply chains and international trade; (2) The fluctuations in global supply chains in the new context, the involvement of ASEAN and Vietnam in global supply chains; (3) The changes of international trade in the new context; (4) International economic cooperation among ASEAN countries and (5) Corporate governance and energy-related issues in the new context.

CIECI 2019 Conference was divided into a plenary session in the morning and 2 parallel sessions in the afternoon.

During the plenary session, 4 presentations of representatives from 4 co-organizing universities were delivered. In "Global Macroeconomic Outlook and Global Value Chain", Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ariuna Taivan – Department of Economics from University of Minnesota (Duluth campus) presented an overview of the global macroeconomic situation as well as some major economies in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia; trade trends and global financial market; the development trends of emerging markets and developing economies as well as achievements of Vietnamese economy in recent years. She also analyzed some of the factors affecting global supply chains such as technological change, tax and trade tightening, environmental costs, and rising labor costs.

The presentation of Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu – Vice Rector of the UEB entitled "Digital transformation and trade in Asia" provided useful information on digital transformation trend on the global scale and assessed the impacts of this trend on cost and trade paradigm in Asia.

Representing National Chengchi University (Taiwan), Prof. Robin K. Chou - Vice Dean of the Department of Finance analyzed the effects of national culture on the asset growth of the company in the presentation "National Culture and the Asset Growth Effect: Insights from the Overinvestment Hypothesis”. He believed that the company's asset growth will be higher in countries that value individualism and have a low level of uncertainty avoidance.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tu Thuy Anh – Head of Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi analyzed an aspect that both policy makers and scholars are concerned about – the environment. In the presentation "Environmental Management of Vietnamese Firms: Measurement and Determinants”, Mrs. Tu Thuy Anh delivered the environmental efficiency evaluation index of Vietnamese enterprises and influencing factors. Research results have shown that the environmental efficiency of Vietnamese enterprises tends to improve over time, although the level of improvement is still low. At the same time, the research also found that pressure from the community and consumers has greatly affected the enterprises. Simultaneously, large scale enterprises and others with foreign elements will be more active in launching environmental initiatives.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Ariuna Taivan – University of Minnesota (US) presenting at the conference

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu – Vice Rector of University of Economics and Business delivers her presentation

Prof. Karl Markgraf – Chief International Officer & Director, International Programs & Services presents at the conference

In the afternoon, the delegates were divided into 2 sessions to discuss: Session 1 – Economic cooperation and global supply chains and session 2 – Corporate governance and energy issues. During these two sessions, the delegates participated in 12 presentations including 3 from University of Minnesota, Duluth (US), 3 from National Chengchi University (Taiwan), 3 from University of Economics and Business, 2 from Foreign Trade University, Hanoi and 1 by the authors from RMIT University Vietnam.

The presentations stated the authors' research findings on a wide range of key issues such as economic cooperation of ASEAN countries, the position of ASEAN and Vietnam in global value chains, the current status of a number of industries such as logistics and e-commerce, foreign market entry strategies of enterprises, exchange rate policy, corporate social responsibility, and some cooperation issues on energy management, etc.

The delegates were divided to participate in 2 sessions in the afternoon of the same day

Representatives of organizations take a photo at the conference

Vice Rector of UEB, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu handles gifts to co-organizing universities

Conference on international economic cooperation and integration, CIECI was initiated and implemented in 2013 by a strong research team on Economic Integration of University of Economics and Business, VNU.

The team leader is Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son – Deputy Head of Central Commission of Economy, former Vice President of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, former Rector of the UEB together with Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu - Vice Rector as the deputy team leader together with members from the Faculty of International Business and Economics.

The main research areas of the team include: (i) Theoretical and practical issues on international economics; (ii) Vietnam's international economic integration, focusing on aspects of trade, investment, finance and labor; (iii) Free trade agreements as well as regional and global economic links, focusing on ASEAN Economic Community, Vietnam's integration with the EU, Vietnam's integration in CPTPP, integration in GMS region; and (iv) Problems arising in the integration process such as green growth, inclusive growth, digital commerce, environment, migration, etc.