ASEAN@50 Fellowships awarded

Press Release
18 May 2018
ASEAN@50 Fellowships awarded

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence (SEA CAPE) are proud to announce the award of the ASEAN@50 Fellowships to five outstanding scholars and business experts from the ASEAN region. They are:

• Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh (Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR); University of Economics and Business (UEB), Vietnam National University, Vietnam).
o Dr. Nguyen will engage in topics relating to issues of economic development and international integration.

• Mr. Senthil Balan Danapalan (Head of Business, Maxis, Malaysia)
o Mr. Danapalan is a senior executive with experience in disruptive technology and airline models, and will engage in topics relating to economic and people-to-people exchange that foster enhanced relationships and better understanding for both New Zealand & ASEAN.

• Dr. Pavida Pananond (Associate Professor of International Business, Department of International Business, Logistics and Transport, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, Thailand)
o Dr. Pananond will engage in topics relating to the nature of economic and business ties between New Zealand and ASEAN, particularly how direct investment contributes to the New Zealand-ASEAN economic and business links.

• Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak (Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand).
o Dr. Pongsudhirak will engage in topics relating to ASEAN and East Asia in view of New Zealand’s Asia-Pacific interests.

• Dr. Aries Ayuson Arugay (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines).
o Dr. Arugay will engage in topics relating to the evolution of the relationship between ASEAN and regional civil societies.

The ASEAN@50 Fellowship Programme was announced in August 2017 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Fellowships programme is jointly funded by SEA CAPE and MFAT. It aims to contribute to building knowledge and mutual understanding between New Zealand and ASEAN nations as well as strengthening New Zealand's ties with the region.

“The Fellows were selected from thirty eligible applications by a panel of academics and MFAT officials,” says SEA CAPE Director, Professor Siah Hwee Ang, “we are very impressed with the calibre of the candidates, and I trust New Zealand’s academic and business communities that have Southeast Asia interests will benefit from the Fellowship programmes in New Zealand.”

The five ASEAN@50 Fellows will be in New Zealand for a series of seminars and discussions starting from late November 2018.

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