APEC Conference 2011 - Is Australia managing?

Professor Margaret Gardner is the Vice Chancellor at RMIT University. She is also the President of the Museum Board of Victoria, Chair of the Australian Technology Network, Chair of the Education Advisory Group of the Council for Australia-Latin America Relations and Director of the Australian Teaching and Learning Council. Previously she was the Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Queensland. Professor Gardner has an Bachelor of Economics (Hons.) from University of Sydney, a Doctor of Philosophy on Industrial Relations, and was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship and studied in the US at the University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University.

7-3 - Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Chancellor, RMIT University

7-2 - Dr John Edwards - Board Members, Reserve Bank of Australia Dr. John Edwards is a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute, an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, and a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia. From 2009 to 2011 he was Director for Economic Planning and Development for the Economic Development Board of the Kingdom of Bahrain. From 1997 to 2009 Dr. Edwards was Chief Economist for HSBC Australia and New Zealand. Before this he was the principal economic adviser to the Treasurer and then Prime Minister, Paul Keating. A journalist in his early career, Dr. Edwards was the Sydney Morning Herald’s correspondent in Washington, DC. He has published four books and holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University.

7-1 - Richard Martin - Managing Director - IMA Asia Richard Martin is the Managing Director of International Market Assessment, an advisory firm that runs an Asia CEO Forum in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore; an India country program in six cities in India; an Asia Program in Australia and supports country CEO programs in other Asian economies. He has been advising MNCs on the business environment in Asia since 1981 when he joined the Hong Kong office of Business International (BI). Following The Economist Group’s acquisition of BI he was the EIU director for Southeast Asia from 1985 before founding IMA in 1990. He is based in Singapore and is a graduate of University of Sydney (Asian politics), SOAS and LSE (Southeast Asia Area Studies).

7-0 Key Messages and conclusions - Alan Oxley, Chairman, Australian APEC Study Centre

6-0 The State of Australia's Competitiveness - qanda

6-3 - James Bond - President, Australian Services Roundtable James Bond is the President of the Australian Services Roundtable, the only dedicated wholeof-services industry organisation in Australia. Its members include providers of financial services, legal, professional services, architects, information technology and education. Mr. Bond is also the Chief Economist at the Financial Services Council. During his tenure at the Council, James has been responsible for broad national economic policy issues including: national tax policy; population growth; climate change; adequate retirement incomes; infrastructure; and labour force participation. Prior to joining the Australian Services Roundtable, James was Government Relations Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Senior Advisor to then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and an Economist in Macroeconomic Group at Commonwealth Treasury. James holds a Bachelor of Economics with Honours from the Australian National University.

6-2 - Mike Woods, Deputy Chairman, Productivity Commission Mike Woods is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Productivity Commission. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Developing Cities at the University of Canberra, the Australian Government’s Commissioner for Competitive Neutrality and a Commissioner on the Education and Training Workforce Schools study. Previously, Mr. Woods was Chair of the Financial Reform Implementation Committee for the China Australia Governance Program and the Secretary of the Treasury for the Australian Capital Territory. He has also been a member of the Australian Statistical Advisory Council and Chair of the Government Sector Finance Task Force for the Securities Institute of Australia.

6-1 - Gary Bowditch, CEO, SMART Infrastructure, University of Wollongong Gary Bowditch is the CEO of the SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong. Prior to this, he was the Founding Executive Director of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. Mr. Bowditch is currently an Expert Panel Member of the Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortia at Oxford University; Board Member of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network at the University of Melbourne and Member of the University of Wollongong Research Council. He is also an adviser to Infrastructure NSW, and is an appointed Australian member of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Mr. Bowditch was previously a senior executive with DFAT. He has served as Australia’s Export Credit Trade and Finance representative at the OECD. He holds an MBA from Macquarie and an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Wollongong.

6-0 The State of Australia's Competitiveness - Mark Johnson AO, Member, ABAC Australia Mark Johnson AO, is one of the Prime Minister's three Australian representatives on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). Mr. Johnson was appointed as a non-executive Director of Westfield Holdings Limited in 2010, and is a senior advisor for Gresham Partners in Sydney and Chairman of Alinta Energy and the Australian Government's Australian Financial Centre Task Force. Mr. Johnson is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide. He has previously held senior roles in Macquarie Bank before retiring as Deputy Chairman in 2007. He holds a degree in law from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from Harvard University.

5 - Q and A

5-3 - Management at the border - Dr Hermione Parsons, Director, Institute for Supply Chain and Logistics, Victoria University Dr. Hermione Parsons is the Director of the Institute for Supply Chain and Logistics at Victoria University. She is a Member of the Victorian Freight and Logistics Council and its Transport and Logistics Workplace Advisory Group. In addition Dr. Parsons chairs the Transport and Logistics Curriculum Management Board and at Victoria University leads the Transport and Logistics Education, Research and Industry Cluster. Prior to joining Victoria University in 2009, Dr. Parsons held leadership and executive management positions at the Port of Melbourne Corporation and the Victorian Government’s Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development. Dr. Parsons holds a Ph.D., Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a Diploma of Education.

5-2 - Tackling Australia's uncompetitive supply-chain - Jeff Rae, Chief Economist, ITS Global Jeffrey Rae is the Chief Economist at ITS Global Asia-Pacific. He has more than three decades of experience in policy analysis and advice involving a wide range of domestic and international issues. Prior to moving into private consultancy, Mr. Rae was a Senior Executive with the Australian Government. As such he worked in the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Department of Primary Industries and Energy and served as a Commissioner in the (then) Industry Commission. He also spent extended periods on secondment to the New Zealand Treasury and the OECD. In the latter role he supervised progress on agricultural trade liberalisation. He holds a Bachelor of Economics from ANU and is a member of the American Economic Association.

5-1 - Liquidity access to improve exports - James Hogan, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Australia James Hogan is Head of Commercial Banking for HSBC in Australia. With more than 20 years of experience with HSBC, Mr Hogan has served in a variety of positions in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Prior to assuming his current role, he held the position of CEO for HSBC Iraq. Before that, he served as Executive Vice President for HSBC USA, responsible for HSBC’s Commercial Banking businesses in North America. During his career, he has held senior positions in Global Transaction Banking, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Operations, and Strategic Planning. Mr Hogan is Irish and grew up in Dublin where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College. He is also a graduate of the London Business School.

5-0 - The cost of transacting trade - Tony Pensabene, Director of Policy and research, Department of Business and Innovation, Victorian Government Tony Pensabene is Director of Policy and Research at the Victorian Department of Business and Innovation (DBI). Prior to joining DBI in October 2009, Tony was employed as Associate Director of Economics and Research at the Australian Industry Group. His experience in economics and policy cover a wide range of disciplines, including industry policy, innovation, intergovernment relations, labour market programs, media policy, health services, aged care and post-arrival programs. This includes engagement in ten major policy reviews for the Federal and Victorian Governments. Mr. Pensabene has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of New South Wales and a research Master’s Degree in Economics from Monash University. He has authored a book on the economics of the medical profession and has published widely on a range of policy issues.

4-2 Dr Sinclair Davidson, Professor of Institutional Economics, RMIT University Dr. Sinclair Davidson is Professor of Institutional Economics at RMIT University and a senior fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. His opinion pieces have been published in The Age, The Australian, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, and Wall Street Journal Asia. Dr. Davidson has also published in academic journals such as the European Journal of Political Economy, Review of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization and the Cato Journal. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hon), Master of Commerce (Wits) and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from RMIT University.

4.1 Paul Howes, National Secretary, The Australian Workers Union - Trade in a Two-Speed Economy Paul Howes is currently the National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union (AWU). Mr. Howes is a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party and represents the Asia-Pacific Region as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Metalworkers' Federation. He is also the Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and a director of AustralianSuper. He is also a director of the National Workforce and Productivity Development Agency, a director of The McKell Institute and a member of a number of Government Boards. Mr. Howes has previously held other positions within the AWU including as an official and as National Vice President.

4-0 Trade in a Two-Speed Economy - Professor Peter Lloyd, International Economics, University of Melbourne Professor Peter Lloyd graduated with a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1962. His areas of study are International Economics and Microeconomic Theory. Professor Lloyd worked as a Lecturer/ Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, 1962-65, Assistant/Associate Professor at Michigan State University, 1965-68 and Senior Research Fellow/Senior Fellow/Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University, 1969-83. He joined the Department of Economics at The University of Melbourne in 1983 and in 1995 was appointed Ritchie Professor of Economics. In 2003 he became Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics.

Lunch Panel discussion

Lunch Session - Moderator- Terry McCrann - associate editor-business Herald Sun, columnist The Australian Terry McCrann is currently the associate editor business for the Herald Sun magazine. He is also a contributor to The Weekend Australian and is syndicated across the Telegraph Mirror in Sydney, Brisbane’s Courier Mail, the Adelaide Advertiser and the Hobart Mercury. Mr. McCrann was previously the Business editor at The Age. He is a former Graham Perkin Journalist of the year, Financial Journalist of the year, has been twice winner of the Melbourne Press Club’s Golden Quill Award, and is also a Walkley Award winner. Mr. McCrann holds an Honours Degree in Economics from Monash University.