- FTU55th anniversary Kickoff Symposium Establishing a Collaborative Relationship
Between Foreign Trade University and Kobe University- Beyond AEC: Implications for
ASEAN+6 ASEAN経済共同体を越えてASEAN+6への影響

7th., September, 2015

Call for paper: Beyond AEC- Implication for Cooperation Among ASEAN+6
Date : 7th., September, 2015
Venue : International Conference Room at Foreign Trade University
in Hanoi, Vietnam
Host : Kobe University (Japan), Foreign Trade University (Vietnam)
This year marks a vital milestone in the cooperation among ASEAN
countries: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be the goal ofregional economic integration. AEC envisages the four key characteristics:(a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic
region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region
fully integrated into the global economy.
The AEC areas of cooperation include human resources development
and capacity building; recognition of professional qualifications; closer
consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; trade financing
measures; enhanced infrastructure and communications connectivity;
development of electronic transactions through e-ASEAN; integrating
industries across the region to promote regional sourcing; and enhancing
private sector involvement for the building of the AEC. In short, the AEC
will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services,
investment, skilled labour, and freer flow of capital. This great evolution
will pose a number of opportunities as well as challenges for all themember countries as well as for neighboring partner nations.
In this context, this symposium strives to create a forum fordiscussions and debates about the forthcoming AEC and the consequences.

- FTU55th anniversary -Kickoff Symposium Establishing a Collaborative Relationship
Between Foreign Trade University and Kobe University- Beyond AEC: Implications for ASEAN+6 ASEAN経済共同体を越えて - ASEAN+6への影響
Date : 7th., September, 2015 (13:00-17:00)
Venue : International Conference Room, Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam
Host : Kobe University (Japan), Foreign Trade University(Vietnam)
Day
9/7(Mon.)

13:00

Time
～

13:30

13:30

～

14:20

13:30

～

13:40

Opening SpeechAss. Prof. Dr. Bui Anh Tuan

President
Foreign Trade University

13:40

～

13:50

Opening Remarks

井上 典之
Prof. INOUE Noriyuki

Executive Vice President
Kobe University

13:50

～

14:00

Introduction to Kobe University New Liaison at
Foreign Trade University

Dr. Tran Thi Thu Thuy

Vice Dean
Faculty of Japanese Language study,
Foreign Trade University

14:00

～

14:15

Introduction to the Conference theme andacademic contents

Ass. Prof. Dr. Tu Thuy Anh

Dean,
Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University

Photo Section

Representatives of FTU and KU

Registration

Details

Presenter

Title / University

Session 1 : Opening Ceremony

14:15

～

14:20

14:20

～

17:30

14:20

～

14:40

Keynote Remarks

14:40

～

14:55

Dealing with Zombie Firms in Economy- Experience from Japan and Lessons for Vietnam Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh
before AEC

14:55

～

15:15

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in AEC

15:15

～

15:30

Pass Through of Exchange Rate in Vietnam : The
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh
Role of Important Countries in the ASEAN+6 Group

Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Lecturer

15:30

～

15:50

Firm Heterogeneity, Comparative Advantage,
鎌田 伊佐生
and Their Roles in Exporter Selection and Export
Ass. Prof. KAMATA Isao
Varieties; with Implications for Globalization in Asia

Graduate School of Economics,
Kobe University
Associate Professor

15:50

～

16:05

16:05

～

16:20

Session 2 : Research paper presentation and discussion
藤田 誠一
Prof. FUJITA Seiichi

松永 宣明
Prof. MATSUNAGA Nobuaki

Exective Vice President
Kobe University
Vice Dean
Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Graduate School of International
Cooperation Studies,
Kobe University
Professor

Coffee BreakAn Assessment of FTA Impacts Based on Trade
Indicators - The Cases of AFTA and RCEP

MA. Le Minh Ngoc

Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Lecturer

Date : 7th., September, 2015 (13:00-17:00)
Venue : International Conference Room, Foreign Trade University in Hanoi,
VietnamHost : Kobe University (Japan), Foreign Trade University(Vietnam)
16:20

～

16:40

Recent Issues on Japanese Robotics Technology
and Grand Challenges in Fukushima's
Decommissioning

小島 史男
Prof. KOJIMA Fumio

Graduate School of System Informatics,
Kobe University
Professor

16:40

～

17:00

Trade and Environment in the Field of Fisheries :The Situation in Vietnam and Lessons from Some
ASEAN Countries

MA. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen

Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
LecturerDr. Tran Thi Thu Thuy

Vice Dean
Faculty of Japanese Language study,
Foreign Trade University

緒形 康
Prof. OGATA Yasushi

Graduate School of Humanities,
Kobe University
Professor

Ass. Prof. Dr. Tu Thuy Anh

Dean,
Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Associate Professor of Economics

緒形 康
Prof. OGATA Yasushi

Centre for Asian Studies, Kobe
University
Director

17:00

17:20

～

～

17:20

17:30

Discussion

Closing remarks

FUJITA Seiichi
Kobe University
Executive Vice President

Kickoff Symposium Establishing a Collaborative Relationship between
Foreign Trade University and Kobe University– Beyond AEC: Implications for ASEAN+6
Foreign Trade University (FTU) and Kobe University (KU) concluded the collaboration agreement
in Feb. 2007. Graduate School of Economics concluded the students exchange agreement in Feb.
2012 and we accepted graduate students from FTU through special entrance examination. This
February we started double-degree program at for undergraduate students. This symposium is to beheld to cerebrate the deepening of the academic collaboration between two Universities at the time
FTU allowed the opening of the KU connections and Liaison Base of Vietnam in FTU.
In this keynote speech I’d like to introduce academic activities of Kobe University briefly and futurecollaboration between FTU and KU. Also I’d like to mention the importance of today’s topics in Asian
economies.

ProfileAcademic Background : Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University
Academic Degree : Master of Economics
Career : Associate Professor, Professor of Kobe University
Publications
Modern International Monetary Economics, Modern International Monetary Theory
Euro and Monetary Policy of ECB, Economic Analysis of Global Imbalance
Empirical Analysis of Global Money Flow (all in Japanese)Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh
Foreign Trade University
Vice Dean, Faculty of International
Economics

Dealing with Zombie Firms in Economy – Experience from Japan andLessons for Vietnam before AEC
In recent years, there exists a question that shall we let the zombie firms go bankruptcy or not if
their existing occupy the resources of other healthier businesses in Vietnam. To answer this question,
we relied on papers about Japanese zombie firms and used panel data from annual enterprise
censuses from 2000 to 2012 to build logit model in order to estimate the number of zombies inVietnam based on the following determinants: changing of labor, assets, debt, revenue growth andbusiness type. Results showed that Vietnamese zombies are hard to become healthy firms as theymeet difficulties in selling their assets or reducing their bad debt. Furthermore, we found out that FDI
enterprises in Vietnam have been using transfer pricing tool to report negative profit both in short andlong term.

ProfileAcademic Background : Economics
Academic Degree : PhD of Economics
Career : Lecturer in Microeconomics, Foreign Trade University
Publications
1. Nguyễn Thị Tường Anh, Đoàn Quang Hưng, 2014, "Determinants in demand and supply of Groupon modelin Vietnam", International conference held by Aalborg University, Denmark, June 2014, Denmark
2. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, 2014, “Non-tarriff barrier in Vietnam’s international trade currently”, Financial
Review No 6/2014
3. Nguyễn Thị Tường Anh, 2014, “PPP model in Switzerland and Vietnam” International conference held byForeign Trade University (Vietnam), North Paris University, Rouen University, IRD (France), August 2014,
Vietnam
4. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, 2013, “Dealing with real estate bubble in US, Japan andexperience for Vietnam”, Financial Review No 11/2013
5. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, 2013, "Empirical analysis of network effect applicability in Vietnam's enterprises",
External Economics Review, No 56/ 2013
6. Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, Nguyen Huu Tam, 2013, Empirical analysis of determinants in FDI attracting at
Vietnamese provinces recently, External Economics Review No 56/2013

MATSUNAGA Nobuaki
Kobe University
Graduate School of International
Cooperation Studies
Professor

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in AEC
AEC aims to create a single market with freer flow of products, capital, services and skilledworkers across borders. Theoretically it helps ASEAN increase cross-border trade, attract more
foreign investment, create more jobs and income, thereby improve the standard of living.
But ASEAN countries are highly diverse so the benefits tend to be unevenly distributed: morefavorably to relatively advanced members and less to CLMV in particular. AEC could make ASEAN
businesses more competitive; however the resulting competitiveness can vary from one enterprise toanother and from one country to another.
So a pressing issue is to improve its competitiveness for its own survival. Innovation andentrepreneurship are the keys to raise it. According to Schumpeter, The theory of Economic
Development (1926; 1961), innovation is “new combinations”: (1) new methods of production, (2) new
products, (3) new markets, (4) new sources of supply, and (5) new forms of organization. The
innovator who carries them out is called “entrepreneur”.
Such entrepreneurs appear from “above” (SOEs), from “outside” (FIEs), and from “inside” (DPEs).
On the initial stage SOEs can play important roles but their efficiency is low. FDI is a source ofinnovation but FIEs’ overpresence can produce problems. So more and more DPEs are needed but
they entail good business environment. Then, what is most necessary?
ProfileAcademic Background : Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University in 1979.
Academic Degree : Doctor of Economics, Kobe University in 1997.
Career : Assistant Professor of Kobe University from 1979, Associate Professor of Kobe University from1985, Professor of Kobe University in 1995; Visiting Scholar of Stanford University from 1982 to
1984; JICA Advisor (National University of Laos) from 2003 to 2005.
Publications
Legal/Institutional Reform and Enterprise Development in Vietnam. Journal of Economics and Business
Administration, 211 (4): 1-19. (in Japanese) 2015; Firm Performance in a Transitional Economy: A Case Studyof Vietnam’s Garment Industry. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 17(1): 74-93. (with Vixathep, S.) 2012;
Economic Development and Enterprise Development.(in Japanese) 1996.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh
Foreign Trade University
Faculty of International Economics
Lecturer

Pass Through of Exchange Rate in Vietnam : The Role of Important
Countries in the ASEAN+6 group
This study estimates degree of exchange rate pass-through into import and consumer prices inVietnam for 15 years. We try to compare the effects on domestic prices of changes in bilateralexchange rates of Vietnam dong against currencies of 4 important countries in ASEAN+6 group(Japan, Korea, China, Singapore) to those of the rate of Vietnam dong against US dollar, the maincurrency for international payment in Vietnam. Empirical results show that a depreciation of nominal
exchange rates increases both import and consumer prices. Exchange rate pass-through is high onimport price and moderate on consumer price. The degree of pass-through tends to increase overtime. The findings show that the rate of U.S. dollar against Vietnam dong has strong effect on importprice but not on consumer price. However, the rates of Singapore dollar and Chinese yuan against
Vietnam dong have strong effects not only on import price but also on consumer price. Although theimpacts of rates of Japanese yen and Korean won against VND on domestic prices are not strong but
they tend to increase over time. These findings suggest that domestic prices in Vietnam are affectedby the changes in value of not only USD but also the other currencies. Then exchange rate
arrangement in Vietnam should moves from the current focus on bilateral exchange rate with U.S.
dollar to a system based on a basket including currencies of regional trading partners.
ProfileAcademic Background : Economics, International FinanceAcademic Degree : PhD of Economics
Career : Lecturer in Development Economics
Publications
1.Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh, “The Role of Different Channels in Transmitting Monetary Policy into Output andPrice in Vietnam” Journal of Economics and Development Vol 17 (1), pp. 20-40, 2015.
2.Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh, “The Monetary Policy Transmission Mechanism in Vietnam,” External Economics
Review No 56/2013, pp. 21-32, 2013.
3. Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh, “Japanese Management Style: the Combination between Culture and Incentive
System,” Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 187(II), pp 87 – 94, 2013 (in Vietnamese, co-authoredwith Le Viet Trung).
4. Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh and Le Viet Trung “The Impact of Oil price, Real Effective Exchange Rate andInflation on Economic Activity: Novel Evidence from Vietnam,” PETROVIETNAM Journal Vol. 10, pp. 6779, 2011.
5. Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh, The Pass-through of Exchange Rate and Antidumping Duties into Tradable Goods’
Price, Vietnam National University Publishing House, 2014 (co-authored with Nguyen Cam Nhung).
6. Nguyen Thi Thuy Vinh, “Impact of Real Exchange Rate Volatility on Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence
from Vietnam using ARDL Approach,” Proceedings of the 12th International Convention of the East Asian
Economic Association, October 2-3, 2010, Seoul, Korea.

KAMATA Isao
Kobe University
Graduate School of Economics
Associate Professor

Firm Heterogeneity, Comparative Advantage, and Their Roles inExporter Selection and Export Varieties: with implications for
Globalization in Asia
I present my research that investigates the interactive roles of firm-level productivity and acountry’s factor-proportion-based comparative advantage in the selection of exporting firms. It is
broadly understood today that only a group of the most productive firms within an industry will be selfselected to be exporters in response to trade liberalization. My research shows that in each country
the probability for a firm to be an exporter will be higher in the industry with a greater degree ofcomparative advantage—i.e., an industry that uses the country’s abundant production factor more
intensively. Two theoretical predictions emerge from the presented model, which are also empiricallyverified in the research: when the country is exposed to an opportunity of international trade or tradeliberalization, i) the fraction of exporting firms will be higher in each country’s comparative-advantage
industries, and ii) each country will export more product varieties in its comparative-advantage
industries. I also discuss what implications we could draw from this research with respect toeconomic integration in the ASEAN community and Asian region.

ProfileEDUCATION:
1994: LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws), University of Tokyo
1998: M.S. in Public Policy, University of Rochester
2003: M.A. in Economics, University of Michigan
2008: Ph.D. in Economics, University of Michigan
ACADEMI DEGREE: Ph.D., Economics (University of Michigan)
ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL CAREER:
1994-1999: The Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF)
1999-2001: Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
2008-2009: Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public & International Affairs
2009-2014: Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison, La Follette School of Public Affairs
RESEARCH SPECIALIZATION:
International Trade, Firm Heterogeneity and Trade/Investment, Empirical Analyses on Patterns ofInternational TradeLe Minh Ngoc
Foreign Trade University
Faculty of International Economics
Lecturer

An Assessment of FTA Impacts Based on Trade Indicators– The Cases of AFTA amd RCEP
The participation in negotiating and implementing has placed a critical need in FTA impact
assessment. This paper attempts to make use of two trade indicators – Revealed Comparative
Advantage (RCA) and Regional Orientation (RO) – to evaluate the economic impacts of AFTA and
RCEP on Vietnamese commodity sectors at HS 2-digit level. The combination of the two indicators
helps define whether a commodity sector enjoys trade creation or trade diversion when Vietnam
participate the two FTAs. It seems that RCEP brings benefits to more sectors than AFTA has done.
The result shows that several sectors in which Vietnam has revealed comparative advantage were
benefited from AFTA and would continue to enjoy trade creation from RCEP, such as Cereals (10),Salt, sulphur, earth, stone, plaster, lime and cement (25), Rubber (40), Knitted or crocheted fabric(60), etc. Meanwhile, RCEP seems to be a better destination for a number of sectors. Commodities
with RCA>1 that are not AFTA-oriented but RCEP-oriented, like Milling products, malt, starches,inulin, wheat gluten (11), Vegetable plaiting materials, vegetable products nes (14), Wood andarticles of wood, wood charcoal (44), etc. Furthermore, even some commodities in which Vietnam
has not had revealed comparative advantage may still be regional oriented when Vietnam integrate
more deeply and comprehensively. For example: products like Live trees, plants, bulbs, roots, cut
flowers (06), Lac, gums, resins, vegetable saps and extracts nes (13), Ores, slag and ash (26) are not
AFTA-oriented but RCEP-oriented, even their RCA indexes are lower than 1. This assessment could
be used to suggest how sectors should response to the regional economic integration.
ProfileAcademic Background : International Economics
Academic Degree : BSc in International Business and Economics, Master of International Trade Policy and Law
Career : 2009 – present Lecturer in International Economics at Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Publications:・ Environmental provisions in regional trade agreements – The case of the Trans-Pacific Partnership andimplications for Vietnam, 2015, Proceedings of Foreign Trade University Conference on “Green Economy
towards Sustainable Development”
・ Challenges for Vietnam in ASEAN+6 Comprehensive Integration: A Sectoral Analysis, 2015, Economic
Development Review (National Economic University).
・ Agricultural investment in Vietnam: the key to economic development, 2014, Proceedings of Foreign Trade
University Conference on “Public and private investment: choices for economic development”.
・ Global Competitiveness Index: Measurement and dynamics of Vietnam’s score, 2013, Proceedings of Foreign
Trade University Conference on “Competitiveness: Analysis and Policy Implications for Vietnam”.

KOJIMA Fumio
Kobe University
Graduate School of System Informatics
Professor

Recent Issues on Japanese Robotics Technology and Grand
Challenges in Fukushima’s Decommissioning
Robotics technologies in Japan have been initiated by industrial applications in 1970s. Thereafter,
the robots have played a key role in sophisticated automation technologies, such as in the fields ofmicroelectronics, servo-drives, motion controls, sensor technologies, human-machine interactions,etc. In the past decade, merging robotics with artificial and computational intelligence and with
cutting-edge products like new innovative sensors and actuators, robot technologies have been
directed to service engineering in our daily life. Robot innovation is now building a new businessmodel in Japanese industry.
In this presentation, our efforts on the core research teams named “Information robotics technology”
during 2007 to 2014 and “A cyber-physical system technology for smarter world realization” since2015 at the Organization of Science and Technology, Kobe University are introduced. The
development of Hand-Arm robot is demonstrated as a typical example of the service robot. Somecritical issues on robot autonomy compared with human teleoperation are discussed.
Finally, Japanese national projects for decommissioning Fukushima nuclear plants are introduced.
There exist several projects, such as for internal inspection method of RPV and PCV, pick-up andstored technologies of fuel debris, de-contamination on reactor buildings, etc. Current situations on
developing innovative robotics are overviewed for attacking to the severe hazardous conditions.

ProfileAcademic Background: Master of Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology
Academic Degree: Doctor of Engineering, Kyoto University
Career: Staff Scientist, ICASE, NASA Langley Research Center (1986-1990)
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California (1990-1991)
Associate Professor (1991-1994), Professor (1994-1999), Osaka Institute of Technology
Professor, Kobe University (1999-Present)
Publications:[1] Fumio Kojima and Shunsuke Uchida: ``Advanced management of pipe wall thinning based on predictionmonitor fusion,‘’ International Journal of Nuclear Safety and Simulation，Vol. 3, No. 3 (2012), pp. 194-200.
[2] Futoshi Kobayashi, Ko Hasegawa, Hiroyuki Nakamoto, and Fumio Kojima: ``Motion capture with inertial
measurement units for hand/arm robot teleoperation,'’ International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics andMechanics, Vol. 45, No. 1-4 (2014), pp. 931-937, (doi: 10.3233/JAE-141927).

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen
Foreign Trade University
Faculty of International Economics
Lecturer

Trade and Environment in the Field of Fisheries: The Situation in
Vietnam and Lessons from Some ASEAN Countries
The rapid increase in commercial activities not only meet export requirements, but also meet theneeds of domestic consumption, contributing to economic growth, increase of employment andpoverty reduction. However, trade liberalization is creating negative consequences on the process ofsustainable development in Vietnam. Trade liberalization has increased the exploitation and use ofnatural resources, focusing on exploiting the raw materials that Vietnam has the advantage,increasing production capacity. Consequently, environmental pollution increases on a national scale,natural resource depleted, the health of the affected people and ecological imbalance. Aquaculture isa key economic sector of Vietnam. Vietnam's seafood is exported to 164 countries and territories
around the world, including the US, EU and Japan - the traditional markets, mainly. Tradeliberalization will promote fishery development, and will affect the ecology of Vietnam without
protection policies. This article discusses the impact of trade liberalization on the environment in thefishery sector and solutions for…...

ProfileAcademic Background: Environmental Economics
Academic Degree:・ BSc in Environmental Economic Management
・ Master of Environmental Economic Management
・ PhD candidate in Environmental Economic Management
Career:2010 – present: Lecturer in Environmental Economics at Faculty of International Economics,
Foreign Trade University
Publications:・ Some measures to exploiting new power generation resources for future, 2015, Proceedings of Foreign Trade
University Conference on “Green Economy towards Sustainable Development”
・ Challenges to Vietnam from the comprehensive integration in ASEAN+6: A sectoral analysis, 2015, Journal of
Economics and Development, No.212, February 2015.
・ Interactions between Foreign direct investment and Economic growth in Vietnam, 2014, Proceedings ofForeign Trade University Conference on “Public and private investment: choices for economic development”.
・ Analysing of the ability to develop green energy in Vietnam, 2013, Proceedings of Foreign Trade University
Conference on “Competitiveness: Analysis and Policy Implications for Vietnam”.
・ Green business for sustainable development in Vietnam and experiences from other countries, Proceedings ofForeign Trade University Conference on “Public Debt and Investment in the Time of Crisis”,2011.
・ Environment in Vietnam: current situation and policy, 2010, Proceedings of Foreign Trade University
Conference on “Environment in East Asia: Issues and Policy”

Kobe University
Kobe
University Nada-ku, Kobe
1-1 Rokkodai-cho,
1-1
Rokkodai-cho,657-8501,
Japan Nada-ku, Kobe
657-8501,
Phone : (81)Japan78 803 5043
Phone : (81) 78 803 5043
Foreign Trade University
Foreign
91 ChuaTrade
Lang,University
Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam
91
Chua: (84)Lang,438Dong
Da, Hanoi, Vietnam
Phone
356 800
Phone : (84) 438 356 800