CONFERENCE DIARY

Micro and Macro Perspectives on Foreign Direct Investment
February 13-14, 2004, Dublin, Ireland

This conference is organized by the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. The conference will bring together researchers focusing on international trade, finance, and macroeconomics and will highlight new theoretical and empirical research on foreign direct investment. Invited speakers include Assaf Razin (Cornell/Tel Aviv), Matt Slaughter (Dartmouth), Linda Goldberg (New York Fed), and Marc Melitz and Laura Alfaro (Harvard). The program will be finalized in early November.

Information: Philip Lane, James Markusen, and Frances Ruane; URL: iiis@tcd.ie.

The Middle East and Globalization for the Common Good—Integrity, Spirituality, Ethics, and Accountability: Transforming Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Globalization for the Common Good
March 26-31, 2004, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Papers, panels, and roundtable submissions are invited from observers, commentators, academics, postgraduate students, and NGOs to address issues related to globalization within the identified theme of the conference. Especially welcome would be papers from economists, business people, philosophers, theologians, historians, political scientists and those working in the field of international relations, peace researchers, conflict resolution specialists, lawyers, sociologists, psychologists, and environmentalists, as well as those engaged in interfaith action projects. You are invited to send a one-page abstract, which should include a working title and the author’s discipline and field, address, institutional affiliation, and email address to either of the conference organizers by December 15, 2003. Should your proposal be accepted, you will be notified by mid-January 2004 about the conference program, registration, social and cultural activities, costs, and other particulars.

Information: Kamran Mofid and Raymond H. Hamden, Directors, 3 St. Martins Rd., Comprehensive Medical Centre, Coventry, United Kingdom, or P.O. Box 11806, Dubai, U.A.E., CV3 6ET; email: k.mofid@btopen world.com, rhhamden@hotmail.com. For frequently updated information on the conference please visit the conference web site: http://commongood.info.

China: Global Investment Strategies and Opportunities for Growth
April 26-27, 2004, Westin Copley Place, Boston, United States

This conference is being organized by Asia Programs at the Center for Business and Government, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and Dow Jones. The following issues will be at the core of this investment summit:

• While the world’s leading economies continued to suffer from weak and jobless growth, the Chinese economy expanded at an impressive 8 percent in 2002 and its GDP grew by 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2003. Will the government’s response to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) stimulate faster reform and allow China to maintain this high growth rate? The task of maintaining growth is falling to a new generation of leaders who are not well known outside China.

• Major challenges facing the new leadership.

• What will the domestic and international priorities of China’s new leadership mean both for international companies investing in China and for Chinese companies wishing to expand abroad?

• Challenges and opportunities in developing a modern urban infrastructure in China.

• What are the investment opportunities for Chinese and foreign businesses as Beijing prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games?

Participants will have the opportunity to hear from China’s new leaders about the future they envision and to discuss the implications for the international business community and for China’s growing ranks of entrepreneurs.

Organizers expect the participation of U.S., Chinese, and international government officials; senior executives from international financial institutions; chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and managing directors from China’s private and state-owned business communities; senior executives from U.S. and international corporations; corporate investors; investment brokers and analysts; and legal and financial professionals with an interest in China.

30th Annual Conference—European International Business Academy: Enlarged European Union: Challenges to International Business and Management
December 5-7, 2004, Grand Hotel Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia

This conference is organized by the Centre of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. The organizers invite both theoretical and empirical papers that may contribute to an understanding of the consequences and challenges of the EU enlargement. Suggested topics include the following:

• Competitiveness of the enlarged EU and challenges of adjustments after the enlargement—company and government perspective

• International business and related economic theories

• Globalization versus regional economic integration

• Knowledge management, technology transfer, research and development, and spillover effects in multinational companies

• Internationalization strategies of multinational companies

• Management and organization of multinational companies

• International business and culture—ethics and related marketing issues

• International finance and accounting

• Legal and policy issues

• Emerging markets and transition economies

• Small countries and companies in the EU and the global economy.

Papers on other aspects of international business are also welcome. All papers or contributions must be submitted no later than 15 July 2004.

Information: Kardeljeva ploščad 5, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; tel.3861-5805-190, fax: 3861-5805-109, email: marjana.jevsenak@uni-lj.si, URL: http://www.fdv.uni-lj.si/anglescina/default.htm.