As co-chairs of the United States APEC Study Centers, Consortium, we are pleased to issue this call for proposals for the previously announced U.S. APEC Study Centers conference to be held on November 15, 2023 hosted by the Berkeley APEC Study Center at the University of California, Berkeley's Institute of International Studies.

We invite paper proposals (maximum 500 words) addressing the following themes: 

1) Trade institutions, supply chain issues, investment and digital trade. With respect to trade institutions, we are interested in the evolving trade architecture in the Asia-Pacific that includes APEC, RCEP, CPTPP, as well as the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework proposed by the United States. In addition, we would like to better understand how these institutions might contribute to advancing the progress of the WTO, which currently faces significant issues. 

Moreover, foreign direct investment continues to be critical to the region’s development. How can FDI be fostered in the current context of trade-skepticism, inward-focused industrial policy, and demands for “reshoring” requires new and innovative approaches to policymaking. 

2) Health: Heath and economy are intricately linked. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a healthy economy depends on reasonable functioning of the medical value chain, some level of coordination to impending health emergencies, open and secure ports and transportation, and supporting digital infrastructure for information exchange, dissemination and data management. Other topics that we may wish to address include APEC ideas on adequacy of the global health architecture in addressing potential pandemics, mutual recognition agreements in such areas as PPE and therapeutics, and vaccine development and equity. The emphasis should be on preventing widespread emergencies in the first place, but, in the event of one, to try to deal with it in a way that minimizes the economic and humanitarian risks. 

3) Environment: Recent passage of the US climate and health care bill has renewed momentum in scholarly interest on environmental sustainability. Mounting research on climate change’s impact on economic productivity, global value chains, innovation and health has opened up opportunities for academic exchanges between the US and APEC economies. Potential themes could include but are not restricted to: green energy, green trade and supply chains, clean technology, economic vulnerability and resilience, infrastructural development, circular and bioeconomy, climate change’s impact on agriculture and food security. As the US and APEC economies embark on a more balanced approach to local, national and regional development, the time is ripe for discussions and debates as to how these priorities might be integrated to environmental sustainability goals. 

4) Inclusivity: This theme could include the participation of women, indigenous peoples, minority groups, and small and medium enterprises, amongst other topics. 

5) Opportunities for APEC Study Centers: This theme would consider possibilities for APEC Study Centers to increase their collective impact as well as ideas for further collaboration. 

6) Other relevant topics, such as economic statecraft or US-China tensions. 

Proposals should be submitted via EasyChair at this link: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=apec2023 by July 24, 2023. You will need to create an EasyChair account; thereafter, if you paste the above link into your browser, it will take you to a menu for the conference. Please click on “Author: make a new submission” and follow the instructions therein. We anticipate announcing accepted proposals by August 15. Thereafter, the authors of accepted proposals will be required to submit completed papers by October 24.

Due to space and time constraints, we will need to balance geographic representation and subject matter coverage in selecting from amongst the paper proposals. We anticipate sufficient capacity to allow for at least one presentation from each APEC member economy. To the extent that submissions outnumber the speaking slots available, we will post the papers of speakers and non-speakers alike on a publicly accessible website. 

Lastly, we gratefully acknowledge the financial and logistical support of  the University at Buffalo APEC Study Center’s Nila T. Gnamm Fund ; the University at Buffalo Asia Research Institute; and the University of California, Berkeley.

Best, 

Jessie Poon and Meredith Kolsky Lewis 

Co-Chairs, United States APEC Study Centers, Consortium

Co-Directors, University at Buffalo, State University of New York APEC Study Center