| This year's graduate conference will be addressing a challenging current issue regarding public foreign investment. State-run investment by countries with massive foreign currency reserves, such as China and Russia, are establishing a new trend in international investment. The Munk Centre Graduate Student Conference aims to explore these patterns and examine their implications for both state sovereignty and economic development. With the rapidly growing economies of especially China and Russia, the world is witnessing a headstrong urge by these countries to invest in resource-rich states such as Nigeria and Sudan. While the goals of these state-affiliated sovereign investment funds are "strictly business" – to earn higher returns from stocks, corporate bonds, real estate, and commodities – there is a rising concern that patterns of investing will become politically strategic, and will be used to monopolise natural resources, or to gain political allegiance from a recipient state. The morning session of the conference will discuss sovereign wealth funds, and the afternoon session will cover China's recent investment trends in Africa. The conference will include a spectrum of experts from the World Bank, academia, journalism and business. |
