“The Future of South-South Economic Relations” – Session 4

VIDEO: “The Future of South-South Economic Relations” Session 4

September 24, 2010

The Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future held an all-day conference on ‘The Future of South-South Economic Relations‘ as part of its Africa 2060 program of research. The conference was held on Friday, September 25, 2010 at the Hariri Building (BU School of Management) and brought together experts from a variety of fields and from across the world and an audience of some 45 to discuss different aspects of the changing landscape and the emerging dynamics of economic – and especially trade – relations amongst developing countries. The conference was preceded by a welcome reception for conference presenters on Thursday, September 24.

The final panel of the conference was chaired by Prof. Stefania Garetto from the Boston University Department of Economics. The panel focused on China’s key role in increasing South-South economic interaction. The first paper in teh panel was presented by Kevin Gallagher, from Boston University, who looked at trade relations between China and Latin America and demonstrated how China’s share of trade with Latin America has grown exponentially. He argued that this growth has been much more strategically advantageous to China, than to Latin America. The second paper on this panel was from Mehdi Shafaeddin, from the University of Neuchatel, who looked at the argument for ‘South-South’ trade and then also at China as a unique actor in South-South interactions. The final paper of the day was presented by Shaun Breslin, from the University of Warwick, who looked in detail at how China views its own political and economic interests abroad in the light of its own image of itself.