Technology Nationalism and its Impact on Southeast Asia (Webinar)

 “Technology Nationalism and its Impact on Southeast Asia”

Alex Capri, Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation and Visiting Senior Fellow in the Business School at the National University of Singapore (NUS)

Jikon Lai, Assistant Professor in the International Political Economy Programme of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

Farlina Said, Analyst in the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia.

Moderated by:

Muhammad Faizal bin Abdul Rahman

Research Fellow at Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

9 October 2020 (Friday) 3.00pm – 4.30pm Singapore Time

Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore hosted this webinar featuring prominent international relations, business and economics experts Alex Capri, Jikon Lai and Farlina Said.

Webinar abstract

After decades of increasing global connectivity, the current Great Power competition between the U.S and China is challenging globalisation and encouraging technology nationalism.

Technology nationalism links a nation’s technology research and innovation directly to its economic growth, sustainability, prosperity, social stability, and national security. It justifies government intervention in markets as protection against hostile state or non-state actors.

What is the impact on Southeast Asian states as they embrace technology to grow their economies, but rely on trade flows and supply chains which may be disrupted? How do Southeast Asian states respond to protectionist interventions, and are they sustainable in our interconnected world?

This session seeks to examine these global issues from a Southeast Asian perspective.

About the speakers

Alex Capri is a Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation and Visiting Senior Fellow in the Business School at the National University of Singapore. He also teaches at the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He has over 20 years of experience in global value chains, business and international trade – both as an academic and a professional consultant. He has written extensively on Technationalism such as ‘The US-China Tech Innovation Race’, ‘Semiconductors at the Heart of the US-China Tech War’ and ‘Strategic US-China Decoupling in the Tech Sector.’

Jikon Lai is an Assistant Professor in the International Political Economy Programme of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests lie at the intersection of international and comparative political economies, and international relations. His work examines how state, business and societal actors create, reproduce and sustain finance and the financial sector. His research output has been published in several journals. He is also author of a book – Financial Crisis and Institutional Change in East Asia – published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2012.

Farlina Said is an Analyst in the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia. As a part of the think tank, she was involved in crafting various dialogues and forums on cybersecurity, radicalisation and Malaysia-Korea relations. Her written work and comments have appeared in the local and international media such as the New Straits Times and South China Morning Post. She has written an article on ‘Technological Rivalry, International Politics and Cybersecurity.’