Jakarta, 8 January 2020: A delegation of about 25 students and researchers from New Zealand universities visited ERIA during their 3 week study visit of institutions and organisations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Additional organisation included in the study visits included the New Zealand Embassy to Indonesia and Mission to ASEAN, the ASEAN Secretariat, business sector organisations, and Indonesian Ministries.

The delegation was led by Professor Siah Hwee Ang, Professor of international business strategy at Victoria University of Wellington and Director of the Southeast Asia Center of Asia-Pacific Excellence (SEA CAPE) which was established by the New Zealand government to strengthen connections with the ASEAN region and Timor-Leste. The Centre is a consortium of universities hosted by Victoria University and includes the University of Auckland, the University of Waikato and the University of Otago.

Lydia Ruddy, ERIA Director of Communication, and Giulia Ajmone Marsan, ERIA Director of Strategy and Partnership, welcomed the delegation, gave an general overview of ERIA activities and had interactive discussion with students. They explained to students how ERIA works with organisations across ASEAN and East Asia and support evidence-based policy making.

Dr Rashesh Shrestha, Economist at ERIA and Mr Salvador Buban, Policy Fellow at ERIA, gave a presentation of ERIA activities in the field of human capital development and skills; trade agreements and negotiations and non-tariff-measures (NTMs). Additional issues that were discusses with students included, energy policy and renewable, ageing population, innovation and the digital economy, SMEs policy and firm productivity, as well as ERIA capacity building and outreach programmes.