From 7 to 14 November 2019, CHRM2 Researcher Muhammad Bahrul Ulum was selected among 11 participants across Asia to join the 43rd Southeast Asian Seminar 2019. The Southeast Asia Seminar has been held annually by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University since 1977. Organized thematically around a variety of topics, the seminar offers a seven-day of a study tour of Vietnam with group discussions and presentations by the participants. This year, the Seminar was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, co-organized by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University and Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (VNU-CRES), Vietnam National University.
The theme of the seminar was Economic Growth, Ecology, and Equality: Learning from Vietnam. In general, throughout the world, economic growth often leads to both ecological degradation and inequality. Many countries have encountered the ruin of the ecological realm and various forms of inequality, e.g., unequal access to natural resources, unequal employment and education opportunities, as well as regional disparities, among others. Such predicaments have likewise been one of Southeast Asia’s most critical and urgent issues.
Vietnam is the site of this year’s Southeast Asian Seminar due to its uniqueness as, currently, one of the most economically-robust countries in the region that shifted from a socialist regime to a market-oriented economy. Amidst its rapid development in the last few decades, Vietnam has, in various ways, been attempting to ensure the well balance between growth, ecology, and equality. In this light, the seminar’s purpose is, therefore, to learn from Vietnam’s experiences of socio-economic transition in comparison to other cases in Southeast Asia.
At the end of the one-week program, participants were required to present their observations on what they will have learned during the seminar and how such experiences will relate to their research.
Further information can be accessed here.