International Conference on The Rise of Asia-Opportunities and Challenges

Background of Conference:
“Regional development in the international scenario can be viewed in the light of, the conscious effort on the part of the countries of a particular region to form a sense of collectivity; in terms of economic endeavours, political harmony and trade cooperation. This phenomenon of regional development assumed greater importance as a response to prevailing international business environment. Over the last few decades different fora/summits have contributed significantly to the texture of regional development of South-East Asian Region. Yet, the scope of economic integration has been a wider gap to fill. The ASIA covers more than one-third of the global population, which is an influential factor both in terms of income and expenditure patterns. The business initiative world over kept hawk-eyed view on economic developments of Asia. In the last decade, the Asian economy has registered phenomenal growth and could withstand, to a great deal, the turmoil created by western crisis.

Amidst success story of Asia, there are inherent challenges in terms of income disparity, cultural diversity and heterogeneous state of economic development, which encourages designing customized integrative business strategies amongst countries to exploit enormous untapped opportunities.

A brief report on the Proceedings of the International Conference on the theme “The Rise of Asia – Opportunities and Challenges” held on 14 March 2014

International Conference on the theme “The Rise of Asia – Opportunities and Challenges” was organized by Durgadevi Saraf Institute of Management Studies (DSIMS), Mumbai on 14th March, 2014 at the Institute premises.

The International conference which was attended by a large number of academicians, professionals, research scholars and policy makers covered the following areas:

Business in conflict zones of Greater Mekong Region and Bottom of the Pyramid

The Next Asia: Role of Japan, China and India and other Asian nations in establishing the future of Asia

ASEAN 2030 %u2013 Toward a Borderless Economic Community with focus on: Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines.

The Conference was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr. Liu Youfa (Consul General of China). Dr Youfa delivered the insightful key note address on the theme of the conference.

Nine research papers were presented in the conference in the broad theme areas as stated above.

Following the footsteps of Robert Mundell%u2019s classical work on OCA, the authors Prof. C.D. Shreedharan and Prof. Arindam Bandyopadhyay%u2019s work %u2018Determining Feasibility of Optimal Currency Area for SAARC Region based on Political Variables%u2019 is an endeavor toward assessing the feasibility of OCA formation in the SAARC region.

Sneha Srinivasan and Syed A A Farhan%u2019s article on “A Roadmap to Regional Integration: Micro-financing Clean Energy for Sustainable Livelihood across Asia” mutual reciprocity of energy and financial inclusion toward creation of sustainable livelihood.?

The work by Prof. Sharad Kumar and Prof. Dinesh Rajput on “External Sector Developments in Select Asian Countries During 2008-12: A Comparative Study” highlights the evolution of external sector reforms in the Asian region and offers critical insight on comparative analysis of the external sector

development of Asian countries included in BRI and N11 group during post crises period i.e. from 2008 to 2012.

Prof. Janardhana A in his work “China: A threat or opportunity for India” examines the country level competitiveness of China and India and flags important areas of competition and trade relations.

Prof. R. Kannan%u2019s article “Role of India and Asia in the Global Economy” brings forth the economic growth in Asia and possible synergies between India and China to sustain the growth momentum.

The research article on “Capital Markets Development and Economic Growth – An Asian Perspective” authored by Prof. Sarat Kumar Malik & Prof. Akriti studies the development of capital markets in Asian countries and analyzes the quantum and direction of FII inflows in India.

Prof. Sharmila Bonnerjee, Prof. Rusha Das and Prof. Sumana Chaudhuri in their working paper on “Integrating India into ASEAN: An Infrastructural Perspective” analyzes the role of cross border transport infrastructure in promoting economic growth through a case study of India %u2013 Myanmar %u2013 Thailand Trilateral Highway project.

Prof. Mohinder Pal Singh in his work “Strategic and Economic Dimensions of Indo-Myanmar Relations” focuses on growing synergy between India and Myanmar toward strengthening of strategic, economic, cultural ties between these two nations.

Prof. Prerna Goyal Ramuka and Prof. Kusum Pawar in their work “A review of Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia with special reference to China, India and Japan” reviews the evolution and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asian countries.

The Conference was convened by Professor Dr. Sharad KumarHead, Remsons Center for Management Research and Director %u2013 in %u2013 Charge of the Institute. Prof. Sharmila Bonnerjee offered the vote of thanks. The authors and delegates of the Conference were presented with Certificates of Paper Presentation. A unique endeavor on the part of the Institute to host a Conference on one of the most critical strategic dimensions of the Asian growth trajectories in times of uncertainty, the Conference was indeed a grand success.