8 December 2022

Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence, in collaboration with Asia Forum, wrapped up the year last night with Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke’s talk titled “Economics or Security? Or Cooperative and Comprehensive Security”.

Speaking to an audience of over 20 people at Bell Gully, Professor Hawke talked about the difficulty of separating economics and security and proposed that trade is not equivalent to economic dependence, and economic dependence should not rely on trade alone.

Professor Hawke is a Senior Fellow of New Zealand Institute of Economic Research and Emeritus Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, after retiring as Head of the School of Government and Professor of Economic History in 2008.

A total of 8 Asia Forums were held this year. After a series of online-only zoom sessions due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were able to return to in-person events from September onwards, allowing attendees to network and make new connections.