The Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management Hosted Conference to Discuss Policy Responses for a Sustainable post-Covid-19 Recovery

The Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management (FSPPM) recently hosted a virtual event to prepare for the second issue of the Fulbright Review of Economics and Policy (FREP), an international journal published on the platform of Emerald Publishing. On September 15, 2021, many established and rising international scholars came together to discuss policy responses for a sustainable post-Covid-19 recovery.

The conference was hosted by Dr. Le Thai Ha, FSPPM's Director of Research and Senior Faculty member. According to Dr. Le Thai Ha, the topic "policy responses" has always been one of the key pillars at FSPPM. However, as the global health crisis raged on, it became clear that COVID-19 would have a significant impact on policies: how governments responded to the pandemic would signify the route to recovery.

"As we face a global pandemic, our "policy responses" pillar takes on a new significance. Being a leading public policy school in Vietnam, FSPPM is determined to do all we can to assist in the sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19, especially for underprivileged groups and for our climate," said Dr. Le Thai Ha.

The conference comprised of four panels, featuring academics and researchers from Australia, Taiwan, America, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Maldives, Luxembourg, New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Portugal.

The first panel, moderated by Dr. Thai Ha, assessed policies that the governments in Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United States of America adopted to recover from the pandemic, as well as the challenges and implications such policy instruments would have on the economy, the society, and the environment.

Dr. Ian Kalman, Fulbright University Vietnam's faculty member in Social Science, moderated the second panel, which discussed the impact the pandemic has had on single-parent families in Malaysia, on female entrepreneurs in India, on mental health students in Hong Kong, and on the public school system in the Maldives.

"I think it is important that we talk about the influence of the pandemic on more vulnerable populations, often ones rendered invisible when looking at it in terms of economic and health metrics," said Dr. Ian. "The researchers opened our eyes to the juxtaposition of the universal and the cultural in shaping the unique experiences of the pandemic in different national contexts."

Researchers from Luxembourg, New Zealand, South Africa, and Indonesia joined together to navigate the challenges governments need to solve, such as climate change, social security, and population density. The panel was moderated by Dr. Le Viet Phu, FSPPM's faculty member.

"I'm happy about the connection we're making between weathering the pandemic and identifying other imminent challenges to ensure a more sustainable recovery," Dr. Phu said. "Though these challenges may be graver for some countries than others, we are all in the same storm and we have to find a way to solve these problems that will last beyond the pandemic."

The last and final panel was also moderated by Dr. Thai Ha. Researchers from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Portugal took on a more holistic view of policy responses: how different political climates affected policy responses and which prospects we should expect for the future.

"It was my privilege to learn about the different policy interventions different countries employed to combat Covid-19, especially from such an esteemed group of researchers during the day-long virtual conference. While this pandemic is ongoing, FSPPM hopes that this conference helps to identify future challenges and creates the ground for cooperation to find our solutions," Dr. Thai Ha concluded.

The second issue of the Fulbright Review of Economics and Policy will be released at the end of this year.

Following is the list of webinar's speakers:

• Professor Binh Tran-Nam, School of Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation, University of New South Wales, Australia
• Professor Yu-Ying Kuo, Department of Public Administration and Policy, National Taipei University, Taiwan
• Professor Marianne Ojo Delaney, Director of Centre for Innovation and Sustainable Development, USA
• Dr. Nur Hairani Abd Rahman, Senior Lecturer, Department of Administrative Studies and Politics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Assistant Professor Sanjeev Kumar, Shyama Prasad Mukherji College (for Women), University of Delhi, India
• Chun Wai Sun Derek, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
• Siu Ho Yau, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
• Assistant Professor Fathmath Nishan, The Maldives National University, Maldives
• Assistant Professor Ahmed Mohamed, The Maldives National University, Maldives
• Dr. Helen Kavvadia, Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
• Injy Johnstone, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
• Dr. Methembe Mdlalose, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• Misran Alfarabi, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• Dr. Slobodan Tomic, Programme Director - Masters of Public Administration (MPA), University of York, United Kingdom
• Assistant Professor Mrutuyanjaya Sahu, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, UAE
• Dr. Uzoma Vincent Patrick Agulonye, Centre for Development Studies and Africa, Lisbon School of Economics and Management Studies (ISEG), Portugal.