Crawford School of Economics and Government ALUMNI NEWS · Crawford School of Economics and...

Crawford School of Economics and Government

ALUMNI NEWS December 2007 www.crawford.anu.edu.au

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Dear Alumni...Warm greetings from the Crawford School, as we approach the end of the 2007 academic year. I trust 2007 has been a good year for you. The School has made strong progress this past twelve months.

It is now two years since we took on the legacy of Sir John Crawford and named ourselves the Crawford School of Economics and Government. I have been quite delighted with the results. Both within Australia and in policy circles around Asia and the Pacific the reaction has been very positive.

It has been an eventful year for Australia and the world at large. We have just had a change of government in Canberra. The long-serving government of John Howard has been swept out by the voters, and Kevin Rudd and his colleagues will now have a turn. They will face some tough challenges, particularly in managing the economy. In Canberra circles there are strong expectations of financial ‘belt-tightening’. Globally, financial jitters seem to be spreading more widely through the banking sector following the sharp rise in defaults of sub-prime mortgages in the United States. At a minimum, this seems likely to result in a credit-crunch. But more hopefully, the global climate change summit in Bali has made some progress. There are many profoundly difficult political challenges ahead for us all on climate change, but at least the process is moving forward.

I am delighted to be able to report to you that the faculty of the Crawford School continues to go from strength to strength. This year we made a string of powerful new academic appointments.

Dr Emma Aisbett, a recent PhD in economics at UC Berkeley, works on the environment, globalization and development.

Professor Bruce Chapman, a senior

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Australian policy economist, originally a Yale PhD and former ministerial and prime-ministerial adviser, works on the economics of education and labour market issues.

Dr Daniel Connell, a former journalist and recent PhD from ANU is an environmental historian working on water-management issues in Australia and internationally.

Professor Prasanna Gai, an Oxford PhD coming out of a senior policy research role at the Bank of England, works on macroeconomics and the dynamics of financial crises.

Dr Ben Hillman, a recent political science PhD from ANU, with an NGO background, works on decentralization and local government issues in China and Indonesia.

Dr Janine O’Flynn, a recent PhD from Melbourne University works on public sector management, government contracting and public sector reform

And we have a range of other impressive new hires in the pipeline for next year! As even this list will hopefully communicate, we are building a truly formidable faculty at Crawford. Our ambitions are very high — we are seeking to emerge as one of a handful of globally significant policy schools. And we are now well on the way.

Two other very positive developments this year are the successful commencement of our Australia-Indonesia Governance Research Partnership, and our winning of the national Environmental Economics Research hub facility. The Indonesia initiative brings together researchers from around Indonesia and Australia working on governance issues. The environmental economics hub is a major research facility focusing on environmental problems in Australia. Both initiatives are about generating policy advice and are

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wonderful achievements for the SchoolOne of our priorities is to build closer

connections to you. Recently we began a trial of offering a complimentary one year subscription to a high quality Australian news magazine — The Diplomat. If the feedback on this is positive, we will make it progressively available across all our alumni. And in the New Year we will be rolling out a new web-based architecture — Crawford Connections — that is designed to help alumni stay in touch with each other and the School. We hope you will find these initiatives worthwhile. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me or any of my colleagues to give us feedback.

For now, warm wishes from us all at the School to mark the end of the year.

Andrew MacIntyre Director, Crawford School

Andrew MacIntyre with Xuehong Wang (China), PhD, Environmental Management and Development

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Alumni News December 2007

Commonwealth Environmental Research Facility

A new ‘Environmental Economics Research Hub’ has been established with the Crawford School as its base. Funded to $7m under the Commonwealth Environment Research Facility, the Hub involves a suite of 14 projects examining current issues in environmental policy making from an economics perspective. The Hub was launched jointly by the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Water Resources Dr David Borthwick and ANU’s Vice Chancellor Prof Ian Chubb on 7 August. Jeff Bennett is Hub Director and Quentin Grafton and Tom Kompas are Theme Leaders. In addition to these leadership roles they also have projects funded through the hub as does Michael Ward. Hub activities involve contributions from a number of other Australian Universities as well as key federal and state government agencies with environmental management responsibilities.

Secretary of DEWR, Dr David Borthwick ANU Vice Chancellor, Prof Ian Chubb and Hub Director Prof Jeff Bennett at the launch of the EERH

New Books

A complete evaluation of our performance is not yet complete for 2007, but we continue to strengthen our reputation in publishing in high-quality journals including some od the world’s most cite and highest impact journals such as Science. Several books were published by staff including:

Daniel Connell (2007). Water Politics in the Murray-Darling Basin. Federation Press, Sydney.

Andrew MacIntyre with Ross McLeod (eds), (2007). Indonesia: Democracy and the Promise of Good Governance, ISEAS, Singapore.

Ben Reilly (2007). Democracy &

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Diversity: Political Engineering in the Asia-Pacific. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Ligang Song with Ross Garnaut (eds), (2007), China: Linking Markets for Growth, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra.

Luca Tacconi (ed), (2007) Illegal Logging: Law Enforcement, Livelihoods and the Timber Trade, Earthscan Publications, London.

Policy Briefs

Policy Briefs have gone from strength to strength this year. Four volumes appeared: water scarcity, responsive policy and support services for children, environmental economics, and climate change. All have attracted a great deal of media interest.

Foundation Lectures

The Crawford School continued with its series of public lectures with the aim of introducing our new hired academic staff to the School, the university and the wider community. Lectures were given by Michael Ward, Daniel Connell, Trevor Breusch and Bruce Chapman and were major campus events.

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Daniel Connell, Lecturer, Environmental Managment and Development programs and Fellow at the ANU Water Initiative gives his Foundation Lecture

Trevor Swan Distinguished Lectures in Economics

The Crawford School in collaboration with the College of Business and Economics funded and organised a distinguished lecture series named in honour of the ANU’s Foundation Professor in Economics, Trevor Swan. There were four lectures given in 2007 that featured some of the world’s very best economists including Sir Tony Atkinson, Barbara Spencer, David Neumark and Kym Anderson.

Highlights of our Conferences 12 Country Updates on

Tonga

Samoa

Fiji

China

Papua New Guinea

Other Conferences covered

Priorities for services trade reform

Engineers without borders

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China’s integration into the world economy

Economic research on Pacific agriculture

China’s conformity to the WTO

Australian and Japanese labour markets

Public diplomacy in Japan and the Asia Pacific

Sustaining global hisheries

Japan-China economic relations

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Prof Quentin Grafton is Research Director and the convener of the Master and Graduate Diploma of Environmental and Resource Economics.

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What’s happening in our degree programs?

2007 has been another busy and productive year for students and staff alike at the School. Student numbers have continued to grow strongly. For those of you who studied in my Masters course on “Open Economy Macroeconomics, Finance, and Development”, you may be surprised to learn that this year, I had 74 students in my class — the largest I have ever taught. And this looks like continuing to increase next year. No doubt, the strong economic performance in the Asian region (thanks in part to the excellent policy research and advice given by many of you in your professional capacity) means that demand for higher education is growing rapidly as well.

This year has also seen some very fruitful cooperative research between a number of us at the School and the economists at the International Monetary Fund. We are working on a book entitled “Globalization and the Mekong Economies”, and hope to launch it in the first half of next year. After that, I will be taking sabbatical leave for the rest of 2008 and into 2009. Dr Peter Larmour will be taking over as Director of

Education at the School, and no doubt, you will be hearing from him in a year’s time — which comes around faster than any of us can imagine. Meanwhile, I wish you all a happy close to 2007, and good health and success in 2008.

Dr Suiwah Leung is Associate Professor and Director (Education)

Environmental Management and Development

The only constancy in life is change! So it has been for the Environmental Management Program in 2007. While the Program was sad to see Elizabeth Beckmann leave to take a position with the Distance Learning Team within the ANU, we were delighted to welcome two new members of staff. Daniel Connell, an expert in water governance issues, joined us on a half time appointment. The rest of Daniel’s time is spent coordinating the ANU-wide initiative on water issues. Also coming aboard was Emma Aisbett, an economist with interests in the environment, trade and development. Emma is also a half time appointee, with her other half spent working in the Economics Program ain the Research School of Social Sciences. These two new staff members bring a wealth of experience and intellectual power to the Program, considerably enhancing our capacity to offer teaching, research and

consultancy services in environmental management across Australia and the region.

Consistent with that capacity, the Crawford School has this year become the focal point of a newly established “Environmental Economics Research Hub”. That is generously funded by the Australian Government. As Director of this Hub, I am responsible for the coordination of 14 interrelated research projects based in universities around Australia. Six of these projects are being conducted in the Crawford School under the leadership of myself, Michael Ward, Tom Kompas and Quentin Grafton. With the new projects have come funds for a number of new PhD students who have now joined a strong band of active minds working on closely related topics within the environmental economics and management realm. It’s an exciting time. Its also pleasing that as we welcome new PhD students, others are departing upon successful graduation. Andy Choi and Sophie Legras are now PhDs and Albert Offei-Mensah, Thang Nam Do and Helen Scarborough have either submitted or are about to.

We are also fortunate to have Lynn Toohey join the Program this year. Lynn’s title is ‘Program Manager’. Her role is to assist the Program Director with the running of the operation, with special

PhDs admitted to the degree in December 2006 and throughout

2007

The Crawford School is proud of its graduates. These students successfully completed their theses in the past 12 months:Katarzyna Golebiowska (Poland), Chun Roy Lee (Taiwan), Waris Hameed Mughal (Japan), Jiro Okamoto (Japan), Youn-Min Park (Korea), Van Ha Pham (Vietnam), Tony Prasetiantono, Yu Sheng (China), and Xuehong Wang (China), Jennifer Thompson (Australia), Andy Choi (Republic of Korea), Renata Hasanova (Russian Federation), Lynette Ong (Malaysia) and Ha Quang Nguyen (Vietnam).

Environmental Management and Development students on a field trip in Jervis Bay

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International and Development Economics

“The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.” Adam Smith (philosopher and economist 1723–1790)

Adam Smith could perhaps be referring to the large group of hard working IDEC and MERE students who will be graduating in December 2007!

Congratulations to our latest group of graduands, and continued success to them all as they return to join you in the work force or in further study.

I sincerely hope that alumni from previous graduating groups, who have already gone down this path, have been well rewarded with “the toil and trouble” of study at the ANU, with success in their work place, and that the knowledge gained from study and interaction in the IDEC program has been beneficial to all in terms of economic application, policy implementation and research in your work place. I have enjoyed hearing news from many of you, and meeting some of you again when working overseas, and encourage all to be proud and active alumni of our school, no matter whether you are an alumni of NCDS, APSEM, APSEG or the Crawford School!

In July 2007, Carlos Vincente, an IDEC student from Mozambique gave an excellent Valedictory Speech on behalf of all graduating students at the IEO farewell cocktail function. Carlos began with an amusing introduction when he admitted he believed the plane he was on from Sydney to Canberra was about to crash land, when he was told to put on his seat belt for landing, and all he could see outside as the plane descended were trees, trees and more trees! Carlos was honest enough to then go on to say that prior to studying in the MIDEC program, he used to read only the beginning and end of many published economic papers and journals; however, since his ANU studies, he enjoys reading the whole publication, and not only understands the more technical data, but is confident of interpreting and using the information.

As we usually report at this time, our student numbers continue to expand,

with both the Master of International and Development Economics and our newer Master of Environmental and Resource Economics degree proving to be popular areas of study with both Australian and international students. We are looking forward to moving to the proposed new Crawford Building at the Canberra House site as we grow out of space in the current building that our alumni know – and I hope have some fond memories of! We will offer more elective choices in 2008, allowing students to select some of the new Crawford (CRWF) Masters courses, which are designed to appeal to students from all three programs, and we will allow students to select some Masters economic policy and trade related courses from the Public Policy program. I would like to sincerely congratulate Nazmun Ratna from Bangladesh on being the latest IDEC student to successfully complete her Doctor of Philosophy study. Congratulations also to this year’s Helen Hughes prize winners Mingru Wang from China is our 2007 Masters top achiever, and the 2007 Graduate Diploma prize is shared by two Vietnamese students,

Tuan Ngoc Nguyen and Thanh Thi Pham, we are proud of their excellent achievements. http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/news/cprize.php

Prof Quentin Grafton, Environmental and Resource Economics, talks at the launch of the Envrinmental Economics Research Hub

emphasis on student recruitment. This is a role that is vital to the continued success of the Program as we need to generate growth in our student numbers to further out goals. With that in mind, I urge you to keep EMD in the front of your mind when it comes to providing recommendations to your colleagues and friends for the best place to study environmental management! Lynn will probably be in contact with you directly to seek your advice on ways to generate increasing student numbers for our Program.

On behalf of the current staff and students of the Environmental Management Program in the Crawford School, I wish you a happy festive season and a prosperous — and sustainable — New Year.

Professor Jeff Bennett is Director of Environmental Management and Development Program and the Environmental Economics Research Hub

Cawford students at the School’s end of year picnic in December

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John Uhr was then appointed to replace Professor Chapman as Director of the Policy and Governance Program. At year’s end, the Policy and Governance Program continues to benefit from professors Mulgan, Chapman and Uhr, but each of them is now busy with new duties.

The good news is that the administrative staff have not changed at all. Students continue to get the best deal from very capable administrators: Maurette McLeod, Heather Radcliffe in the Crawford Building, and Rachel McGrath-Kerr and Lan Tran in the Sir Roland Wilson Building. The study skills team remains in the experienced hands of Alison Cumming-Thom and Mark Badger. Some figures on the 2007 student profile make for interesting reading. Policy and Governance now has around 250 students enrolled in its five main graduate degrees: the Graduate Diploma and the Masters of Public Administration; the Executive

On the staffing front, the program is pleased to welcome Prasanna Gai as our newest IDEC staff member. Professor Gai lived and studied in Canberra, before going to the UK to study for his D. Phil at Oxford University. He has been working in England at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Centre for Applied Macroeconomics (CAMA), as well as at the Bank of England as a senior adviser and academic consultant, working on systemic risk and financial stability matters. We are fortunate to have him return to the ACT to take up a research and teaching position in the Crawford School.

On the social front, IDEC students and staff were well represented at a number of functions this year, first of all at an enjoyable function at Old Parliament House, and then at the Crawford soccer afternoon, when an IDEC team of students named the ‘Rest of the World ‘ took on and defeated a strong Vietnamese team, again mainly talented IDECians! Many enjoyed the Crawford Picnic Dinner at the Botanic Gardens Café recently, and finally IDEC hosted a dinner for our large group of graduating students this December at the Lemon Grass Thai Café – an excellent evening!

Please keep in regular contact with news of research projects and papers published by our staff via the Crawford internet site, and we also would be very pleased for feedback of any alumni research and other achievements. Quentin Grafton and I were delighted to have a recent publication in December’s Science Magazine, titled “Economics of Overexploitation Revisited”.

Recently both Brian Arnold in Mongolia and Sue Farrow in Indonesia hosted two successful alumni dinners, as always, it is very rewarding to catch up with our ex students and their news.

In conclusion, I wish you all a very happy festive season and New Year, and much health, happiness and success to all. As we always ask, please keep in contact with each other and with the program. Sincere good wishes from the IDEC staff, especially from Sue Farrow and Anne Patching, and from me too.

Dr Tom Kompas is Director of the International and Development Economics Program and Senior Research Economist Consultant at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, pictured with Nilar Aung (Myannar)

Policy and Governance

This has been a year of great change for the Policy and Governance Program in the Crawford School. The year began with Professor Richard Mulgan as Director, ready and prepared to hand over to a new Director whenever a suitable candidate emerged. Early in the year, Professor

Bruce Chapman was appointed Director, after a wide international search for a replacement for Professor Mulgan, who remains on staff as our most experienced and senior teacher. Professor Bruce Chapman has been at the Australian National University for over 20 years as a senior economist in the research-only Research School of Social Sciences, where he has built up a record as an internationally-regarded labour market economist and skilled econometrician. Bruce remained as Director of the Policy and Governance Program until October, when a number of senior positions in the Crawford

School underwent significant change: Professor Chapman moved upwards to replace the School’s deputy Director, Professor Glenn Withers, who left to take on the new Canberra-based advocacy job as executive director of Universities Australia, the body representing the 38 universities of Australia. Professor

Prof Bruce Chapman, the new Crawford deputy director, gives his Foundation Lecture.

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Masters of Public Administration for students enrolled in the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG); and the various forms of the Masters of Public Policy, with its seven specialisations. Half the Policy and Governance students are now international students. Half the students are female, which not surprisingly makes the other half male. Half the students are studying fulltime, with the other half (usually Australian-based) studying part time. Half the courses are now taught as intensives, with the rest as standard weekly courses. Policy and Governance now teaches about 40 courses each year, with an average enrolment of around 25, although many courses are larger than this average.

The Program is steadily being integrated into the wider Crawford School, with the old ‘POGO’ course identifying numbers slowly being replaced by new Crawford identifiers. New teaching staff are being encouraged to offer School-wide courses, and students in other Crawford masters programs are being encouraged to take Policy and Governance electives. The future looks bright as the Policy and Governance Program takes its place among the changing Crawford teaching lineup as one of a number of integrated teaching centres, responsible for many of the School’s largest masters populations.

John Uhr is Professor and Director of the Policy and Governance Program

New studentsAnother year has flown by, 17 now for me at the ANU. I remember so well my first year at NCDS in 1991. I think there are only a few staff members still here from that time. Moreover, although some of us are still housed in the Crawford Building, the old Graduate House and Workers’ Club are no longer with us. There is a new Graduate House, but no replacement for the ‘Workies’. I have very fond memories of enjoyable evenings with some of you at the ‘Workies’. I hope you do too!!

It has been another very rewarding year for the team: Ngan Le, Ida Wu, Juwita Busah and me. We are expecting over 130 new students in Semester 1 2008 , a record number. Apart from an increased number of AusAID applications received, over 70 we are pleased to be welcoming a large number of students from our twinning programs. We will also be expecting for the first time students from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan. In addition, we are pleased to report that World Bank Pakistan scholarships are now available in the Environmental Management and Development Program.

Connecting with our Alumni

We have again held alumni dinners in various countries of the world. Altogether, we held dinners in 12 countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, PNG, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.. You can check the website if you want to read more about these events. You may even see a photo of yourself there if you attended one of the dinners. Reunions with our alumni are an important part of our activities and I hope to meet many more of you next time. So, please remember to give us your contact details or update them through the online form at …, or email me at: [email protected].

We also now have alumni representatives in 10 countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda, Vanuatu and Vietnam. If you would like to be a representative for your country, please let us know. We can guarantee that there

will not be much work involved!!Finally, I want to urge you, despite your

hectic work schedules, to try to spend some quality time with your family and close friends particularly during your holiday season.

We wish you all the best for 2008 and hope to see you on our travels!

Billie Headon is Director of Student Recruitment, Scholarships and Alumni

Billie Headon with other Crawford staff at the Crawford Ball

Chris Lawrance is Crawford’s newly appointed Australian Recruitment Manager

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2007 CRAWFORD SCHOOL PRIZEWINNERS

Helen Hughes Graduate Diploma Prize: Mr Tuan Ngoc Nguyen and Ms Thuy Thi Thanh Pham ( Vietnam)

Helen Hughes Master Degree: Ms Mingru Wang (China)

Tiri Tiri Prize: Ms Katherine Mitchell (Australia)

Raymond Apthorpe Graduate Diploma: Mr Vassiliy Zenov (Kazakstan)

Raymond Apthorpe Master Degree Prize: Ms Emily Wilson ( Australia)

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nterview with Mingru Wang

Why did you choose to study at the ANU?In 2006, I gained admission to the Australia–IMF scholarship program for Asia 2007, which offered 12-months study at ANU. I really appreciated the opportunity to study at ANU, as it ranks very highly among the universities in the world, especially in terms of economics. What was the most challenging aspect of your academic program?I think the most challenging aspect of my academic program has been the heavy work load. Most of my courses involved a large amount of reading materials, writing essays, computer labs and tutorials. Near the exam period, I really felt the work was up to my neck. After I finished, I felt not only my academic skills had improved, but also my time management skills!

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What was the best thing about studying at the Crawford School?The best thing is that the Crawford School gives great consideration to the international students. For example, considering English is not the mother language for most students here, our school arranges academic skill lecturers to help us improve our language skills. Without the help of my academic skills lecturer, Anne Patching, who gave so much precious advice on my essays, I would not get high marks on most of my essays. In addition, the IAP offered by the school also played an important role in helping us meet the requirements for further study, since we came from different countries and had different academic foundations.Where are you planning to work after you graduate?After graduation, I will go back to China and continue in my previous job with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). I believe the advanced economic knowledge attained at ANU will provide many benefits to my future career. Would you like to add anything else?I would like to express my appreciation to my sponsor, the IMF and all the lecturers and staff in the Crawford School, especially to Ms Anne Patching, Dr Tom Kompas, Dr Suiwah Leung, Ms Billie Headon, Ms Ngan Le, Ms Sue Farrow and Ms Ida Wu.

Interview with Tuan Ngoc Nguyen

Why did you choose to study at the ANU?ANU has been consistently ranked as

the best university in Australia and one of the top universities in the world. Hence, it knows how to maximise the learners’ potential, and this is what learners consider when choosing among universities. Obviously, I am also a learner and this explains why I chose ANU.What was the most challenging aspect of your academic program?Well I do not find any specific challenging aspect in my academic program. Instead I find a general difficulty which is always true no matter what program I study. That is listening. Sometimes, I cannot catch up the whole ideas from the lecturers. Of course, I have to overcome this by reading and listening more.What was the best thing about studying at the Crawford School?As a member of ANU Crawford School possesses top quality lecturers and very good conditions for study. Moreover, it specialises in development studies which suit the learners coming from the developing countries very much.Where are you planning to work after you graduate?After graduating I plan to come back to my country and work in the Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration where I had worked for three years before I came here to study.Would you like to add anything else?Since I work in a university as an academic staff, I am usually required to obtain the doctorate degree. Thus, I would like to find a scholarship to study the PhD program.

Our Graduating Students

This year will see a record number of students graduate from Crawford programs swelling the number of alumni with around 250 new members.

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Interview with Emily Wilson

Why did you choose to study at the ANU?I came up to Canberra four years ago to work in the public service. After one year in Canberra, I decided that I wanted to undertake postgraduate studies in a more ‘vocational’ field than my undergraduate studies. A Masters in Public Policy was a natural choice given my interests and aspirations.What was the most challenging aspect of your academic program?Juggling full time work and part time study was definitely the most challenging aspect of my studies. I wanted to make the most of all the courses I took, while continuing to perform well at work. A lot of the subject matter was new to me (especially the economics course), so I had to do more study than I had anticipated at times!What was the best thing about studying at the Crawford School?A lot of the teaching staff are practioners as well as academics — I found this added an extra dimension to discussions in class. It also provided the more practical angle that I was after. The Crawford School is also very part-time friendly and this was a big positive for me.Where are you planning to work after you graduate?I have been working throughout my studies, but have planned to take 12 months leave next year to travel the world and potentially look for work in international organisations with a focus on refugee, development and humanitarian issues.Would you like to add anything else?Thanks to Raymond Apthorpe and the

Crawford School for the prize!

Interview with Thuy Thanh Pham

Why did you choose to study at the ANU?I have worked for Vietnam Farmers’ Union for about 8 years before my job inMPI. At that time I was interested and looking for some programs focusing ondevelopment issues. Some of my friends have recommended me this course on development at the Crawford School in the ANU. Furthermore, I have known that ANU ranked among the world’s best universities and the top universities in Australia. I did hope I would get opportunities to study at the ANU. Fortunately, my dream of studying at the ANU became true with an AusAID scholarship.What was the most challenging aspects of your academic program?The most challenging I have to deal with is that within a short time the IDEC students and I have to grasp the complex analytical and quantitative technical knowledge. Much effort in learning math and computer skills is required.What was the best thing about studying at the Crawford School?Students have learned not only theoretical but also many practically applicable approaches. These will be very useful for policy makers and policy advisers in developing countries.Where are you planning to work after you graduate?After my graduation in ANU I will go back to work for MPI in Vietnam. I hope I would apply the knowledge I gained in ANU in my everyday works. Those knowledge will help me in analysis, evaluation and formulation policies related to the development of SME in Vietnam.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF CRAWFORD SCHOOL STUDENT ASSOCIATION

ABBAS MANAFOV

Dear Alumni, Faculty Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my great pleasure to address all of you at this moment of time, at our graduation. Talking about my experience at the ANU could take a lot more time than we have but nevertheless let me share with you a small part of it.

First, let me introduce myself. I am now a former student of the Masters in International and Development Economics program at the Crawford School of Economics and Government here at the ANU. Coming from a country called - Azerbaijan gives me a privilege of being the first, possibly the second student to represent my country at the ANU. I shall confess right from the beginning that although having visited several countries in Europe and Asia; my Australian saga has impressed and shaped me the most.

Let me outline the reasons why I came to the ANU, particularly to the Crawford School, how I have spent my two years as a student and finally how I am going to maintain my affiliation with the ANU in the future.

The Crawford School of Economics and Government is a leading public policy school in the Asia Pacific region but more so it is becoming one of the key research and policy development centres in the world. It is a tremendous and unique feature of the school to embrace a populace of 450 or so international students and culturally and professionally diverse faculty staff within the family like

GDLN Seminar (left)

Abbas Manafov (Student Association Chair) Cindy Wiryakusuma (International and Development Economics) and Ian Duddy (Environmental Management and Development) at the Crawford Receoption in Old Parliament House

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atmosphere. All through my grad-school years here I have been offered an exclusive opportunity to interact with colleagues from different countries. I like calling our school — a ‘mini’ United Nations. Indeed, we had countless occasions where we passionately discussed problems of poverty reduction in China, fisheries management in Vietnam, civil society and institutional building in the Asia Pacific and environmental and wider resource issues elsewhere in the world. In these verbal and emotional exchanges I could always see where my country and myself stand and how policy outcomes could be improved. As my high school teacher used to say – there is no need to reinvent a bicycle, just look at how others made it.

The next reason for coming to Australia was to see how public policy works in real life in the context of developed country. Australia being a member of OECD has well established itself as a safe and rewarding destination for foreign investment and an interesting place to travel. It has certainly been a worthwhile choice to see how decisions are made in the Parliament, to be part of the nation wide debate on issues such as the indigenous population, climate change and the effects of the resource boom on the economy. The richness of the opinions and the way public policy issues are brought to the attention of millions is undoubtedly an experience not to miss for future policy makers.

Now, let me tell you a little about activities I have been involved in as a graduate student. I in no way pretend to be a role model for any of the ‘Crawfordies’, but admit that I had an interesting time. As a President of Student Association I have enjoyed countless meetings with students, faculty staff and other third parties. It was very fulfilling to be able to

organise grand events such as Crawford School Reception at the Old Parliament House, the end of exams barbeque in the Botanic Gardens, the Vietnam versus the est of the world soccer cup and many others. And here is news for you. We now have Crawford School shirts available. If you wish to purchase one please contact Ms Billie Headon at [email protected].

Campus life has had a special place in my ANU years. Living at Burgmann College has allowed me to save time that I would have spent on cooking and shopping. I have met a lot of people both in the college and ANU wide. Invaluable meetings with distinguished authors, ambassadors, and public figures have been an indispensable part of my student life. I have also taken roles as a Residential Tutor and on the College Council. College life has allowed me to participate in sporting activities such as soccer, volleyball and chess. Finally, being from the same college and university as the new Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd, gives me an additional excitement and privilege.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight the Crawford experience. As you may know the Crawford School is part of the global virtual research panel, PolicyNet. It is a place to visit if you are looking for networking, research grants, job advertisements and blog postings by peers from institutions such as the Woodrow Wilson School, the Hertie School of Governance, the Lee Kuan Yew School and others. It is a ready–to-use panel if you want to master certain research issues, policy memos and much more.

Moreover, let me draw your attention to the expertise and knowledge that is available at the Crawford School. Whether you are in the public service, a non-governmental organisation or

the corporate world, great minds of the Asia Pacific are at your disposal at the Crawford School. In recent years our school has taken a somewhat different growth strategy. Collaboration with industry stakeholders, a targeted research approach and executive level programs offer many opportunities for us. Freelance researchers have an exceptional prospect to conduct joint work with any of the faculty staff. Moreover, career advice and industry and corporate life tips are readily available.

Finally, let me thank everyone at the ANU and especially Crawford School for their priceless input into my personal development. It has been a wonderful experience to get to know all of you.

I want to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to study at the Crawford School.

Sincerely yours Abbas Manafov

Contact us

The DirectorCrawford School of Economics and GovernmentThe Australian National UniversityCanberra ACT 0200Ph +61-2-6-61254705Fax +61-2-62572886Email: [email protected] Website: www.crawford.anu.edu.au

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