The Faculty of Economics held the 9th Global Applied Economics Forum (GAEF) on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25, 2022. Our partner was The Faculty of Business and Economics at Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam. A small cohort of four students began their preparation for this online exchange in April 2022. This was the third online exchange the faculty has held since the outbreak of the pandemic. Once again, Professor Alexander McAulay and Professor Craig Parsons were in charge of organizing GAEF. For the second year in a row, our counterpart was Dr. Nguyen Xuan Dong in Vietnam, who obtained his doctorate at YNU. The topics of the presentations given by Phenikaa students were ‘Japanese ODA in Vietnam,’ and ‘Japanese Trade and Investment in Vietnam.’ The YNU cohort presented on ‘Russia-Ukraine War’s Impact on the Economy,’ and ‘Trade.’

The topics for this GAEF were central to the studies in economics the students are engaged in. The topic of ‘War’ was suggested by the YNU cohort, who are obviously concerned by current events. The students carried out a thorough research of the literature and supplied plentiful data to support their arguments. Lively discussion took place during the Q&A with both sides providing lots of tough questions for their peers.

Other features of GAEF included guest lectures by both Phenikaa and YNU. From Vietnam, Dr. Dao Le Trang Anh gave a talk entitled “The impact of Covid-19 lockdown on stock market performance: evidence from Vietnam.” The YNU cohort were told that the stock market in Vietnam has proven surprisingly resilient during these turbulent times. The next day, YNU offered a lecture by Dr. Craig Parsons entitled “Vietnam’s ascendancy in the electronics trade and the role of inward FDI.” The Phenikaa students asked many questions about the rich data presented by Dr. Parsons. All participants were grateful for the opportunity to hear input from experts during the GAEF sessions.

More social aspects of the exchange included short presentations introducing the respective cities and universities. Students also had time at the end of each day to stay online in the Zoom meeting and chat informally.

The 9th Global Applied Economics Forum is the latest iteration in a considerable history of short-visit Dialogue programs run by The Faculty of Economics. Hundreds of students have visited universities in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia on the Dialogues since 2006. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant everything has been online since 2019, but the online exchange with University of Technology Sydney in 2020, then Vietnam National University in 2021, and now Phenikaa University in 2022, means we have continuously offered Dialogue opportunities to students for the best part of 20 years. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) will be salient for a number of years and the Faculty of Economics will continue to make use of this model, to ensure opportunities are available to students to engage in authentic intercultural exchange.

The 2022 Dialogue experience was an enjoyable, educational, and informative experience for the YNU cohort thanks to the collegiality and organizational skills of our partners in Phenikaa University. We sincerely appreciate the efforts of Dr. Nguyen Xuan Dong and his colleagues. In 2023, we hope to collaborate once again with Phenikaa University and have mutual visits to Hanoi and Yokohama.