Educating Future Generations Of Trade Negotiators

5 January 2015: Perdana University launched the Master of International Trade (MIT) - a pioneering programme that will shape the study of International Trade in the region. The programme was launched by YB Dato’ Lee Chee Leong, Deputy Minister (Trade) Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) at MITI.

In his speech, Lee said that the Master of International Trade programme offers courses to enhance technical and negotiating skills, to educate future generations of trade negotiators, to provide quality training in international trade issues, and a sound knowledge of WTO rules and processes.

“I am (also) pleased that with this collaboration, experts in trade negotiations and technical matters from MITI will serve as guest lecturers. This will help to bridge that much needed ‘experience and skills gap’ that is crucial in a Master’s programme,” he added.

“By combining theoretical knowledge of the highly qualified academia from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Zurich University of Applied Sciences School of Management and Law (ZHAW), with our own huge experience, we can create a learning ecosystem that is robust, thought-provoking and stimulating,” he emphasized.

L-R: (5Jan2015) Khoo Boo Seng, Senior Director MITI; Professor Dr Simon John Evenett Academic Director and Professor of International Trade and Economic Development, University of St. Gallen; Dr Hassan Qaqaya Head of the Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, UNCTAD; YB Dato’ Lee Chee Leong Deputy Minister (Trade) Ministry of International Trade and Industry;  Professor Dato’ Dr Sothi Rachangan, Vice Chancellor Perdana University;  Vanu Gopalan Menon High Commissioner, High Commission of the Republic of Singapore KL.

The MIT is offered in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Zurich University of Applied Sciences School of Management and Law (ZHAW) with the support of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysia.

This programme is suitable for those who are expected to be knowledgeable and/or participate in commercial diplomacy and trade negotiations. It is valuable for representatives of private sector or civil society organisations focussing on international trade.

The MIT is a comprehensive 12-module programme that can be completed in 15 months with a maximum candidature of 4 years. Students can also choose to do it in modular form and obtain a certificate at the completion of each module.

With the collaboration of UNCTAD and ZHAW, a fly-in faculty of experts will teach the programme. The faculty consists of experts who have extensive knowledge in the field and have spent many years being involved in trade policies and negotiation.

“Perdana University offers programmes that are benchmarked against world standards, and the MIT is not an exeception. It was designed to support nation building and it is our initiative of giving back to the community,”  said Professor Dato’ Dr Sothi Rachagan, Vice Chancellor of Perdana Unversity who is also Chair of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Working Committee on Financial Services.

(6Jan2015) (L-R) Datuk Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria,  Secretary General, MITI, Dr Hassan Qaqaya, Professor Dato' Dr Sothi Rachagan and Professor Simon Evenett with the first cohort of students doing the International Trade Economics module

Also present at the ceremony were Dr Hassan Qaqaya, Head of the Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, UNCTAD and Professor Dr Simon John Evenett, Academic Director and Professor of International Trade and Economic Development, University of St. Gallen Switzerland. Professor Evenett is the module leader for the International Trade Economics module which is the first module. He delivered a keynote address entitled ‘The WTO at Twenty: Trouble in Paradise’. This was followed by a preview on the MIT presented by Professor Dato’ Dr Sothi Rachangan and Dr Hassan Qaqaya.

In conjunction with the launch, Perdana University is offering the first two modules as preview modules. The first cohort of 20 students began the International Trade Economics module with Professor Evenett later in the afternoon. Professor Evenett specialises in competition and on the analysis of existing and proposed agreements with the WTO. He holds a BA (Cambridge) and a PhD (Yale) in Economics and has taught at Oxford University, the University of Michigan Business School and Rutgers University.

The next preview module on Competition Law & Policy will be delivered by Dr Patrick L Krauskopf, Professor, Head of the Centre for Competition Law, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, School of Management and Law. He is also a practitioner in New York and Switzerland (AGON Partners).

Professor Krauskopf served as Deputy Director with the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO). He lectures and researches on contracts, torts and competition law and is a competition law expert with WTO, UNCTAD and ICN. He studied at UC Berkeley and Fribourg (PhD) and holds an LLM. from Harvard Law School.

To register for the Master’s programme or any of the 12 modules, please contact 03 8941 8646 or email [email protected].