First CEAMeS Workshop on „Macroeconomic Development and Trade in East Asia”

The first CEAMeS Workshop on „Macroeconomic Development and Trade in East Asia” took place from May 11th until the 13th at the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. After the welcoming-words of Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert, the rector of the FernUniversität in Hagen, and Prof. Dr. Helmut Wagner, head of the CEAMeS Center at the FernUniversität in Hagen, a series of speeches focusing on the macroeconomic development in East Asia (mostly China) were given. Alongside the presentations of three researchers from the hosting FernUniversität in Hagen, international guests from five different countries presented the results of their recent research activities

Intensive conversations and discussions took the center stage of this first meeting in Hagen, whose intention was that the different research fellows of the “Center for East Asia Macro-economic studies” got to know each other personally. “The two-day workshop was received very well by the audience and especially our guests from China were enthusiastic about future collaborations with our center!”, as Prof. Wagner summarized the weekend at the campus.

One highlight of the conference was the keynote-speech given by Dr. Markus Rodlauer, deputy director at the International Monetary Fund, who was on his way to an international summit about the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing. He discussed China’s current economic situation and presented an outlook for the nearby future (for more information click here).

A vital part of the meeting was the delegation of the “Center for Macroeconomic Research” from the Xiamen University in China. At the end of the workshop the head of this delegation, Prof. Wenpu Li, praised the great organization and announced that the second workshop is planned to be held in China, in spring 2018. At this point the event should be opened for further researchers from China and Japan. “I think this invitation shows the close relation we have to our research fellows in China and is a sign for the high regards we received during our workshop.” Prof. Schmerer, who founded CEAMeS together with Prof. Wagner, added: “This will be a great opportunity for us to sharpen our international reputation.”