Chinese and Japanese Investments in South and Southeast Asia: Case Studies from the Automobile and Electronics Industries

George Washington University presents a talk by Professor Eric Harwit, who will speak on his research on Japanese and Chinese investment trends in Southeast Asia.

Featured Speaker:
Eric Harwit
Professor, Asian Studies, University of Hawaii

Japan has been the traditional Asian investment leader in South and Southeast Asia for the past 50 years, but since 2003 China has made a major move to follow Japan's path. The PRC's official "Going Out" policy inspires state-owned and private companies to seek raw materials and manufacturing investments both in ASEAN countries and in a rival economic powerhouse, India. This talk, based on extensive fieldwork interviews in several of the targeted countries, assesses trends for Japanese and Chinese invested projects in the region, and focuses on the automobile and electronics sectors. It indicates that Japan, long the dominant investor in its Asian neighbors, is facing a major regional economic challenge from a resurgent China.

Eric Harwit is a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii and an adjunct fellow at Honolulu's East-West Center. He has a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as a diploma from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. He has lived in China for several years and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. His most recent book is China's Telecommunications Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2008), and he is currently researching Chinese investment and expansion strategies in South and Southeast Asia. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences, and has been cited in Time, Businessweek, The Economist, Asian Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and other print and broadcast media outlets.

Please RSVP at go.gwu.edu/HarwitNov16 by Tuesday, November 15.