On January 8-10 2025, the joint conference “Navigating Challenges: Industrial Policy, Competitiveness, and Development” was organized collaboratively by the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, the National School of Development at Peking University, and the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. The event featured presentations on cutting-edge academic research and discussions on policy options, with a focus on their implications for national policymaking and global economic governance. WTO Chairholder at UIBE Prof. TU Xinquan was invited to join the conference as a speaker on the panel “National Industrial Policies and International Governance”.

Industrial policy has long been central to economic development strategies across Asia. Recently, however, shifts in policy paradigms have led to a growing advocacy for industrial policy in the U.S. and Europe, driven by factors such as competitiveness, the transition to a green economy, technological innovation, and national security concerns. The conference seeks to foster an in-depth dialogue on this evolving landscape and to explore the effectiveness of industrial policy, identify safeguards to maximize its benefits, and address potential risks, including the competition for subsidies and tax incentives that could strain public finances, and disruption of the global trading system.

More than 30 scholars from multiple countries including China, the United States, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany attended the seminar, including professors Larry Summers and Tony Saich from Harvard University, renowned scholars including Bai Chong'en, Dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Prof. Huang Yiping, Dean of the National Development Institute at Peking University, Prof. Ke Chengxing, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Government Management at the National University of Singapore, and Alfred Schipke, Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. The insights from these scholars on this subject greatly enhanced the discussions and helped shape a nuanced and impactful discourse on the future of industrial policy and its implications at both the national and global levels.