Newsletter Issue #2A NWPG
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 TRADE-DSM Navigator™ training for the NWPG On 14 March, Mr Martin Cameron conducted a practical training session for five individuals from the North West Provincial Government’s Department of Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development (FEED) on the use of the TRADE-DSM Navigator™. Related news: TRADE Research…
Newsletter Issue #2B
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 TRADE partners with ICTSD to study SMEs and services TRADE is currently working with the Geneva-based ICTSD (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development) in a number of projects aimed at better understanding the potential of SMEs operating in the services sector in least-developed countries (LDCs)…
Newsletter Issue #2C
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Global Value Chains (GVCs) under the spotlight Over the past six months, TRADE has hosted two roundtables at its premises in Potchefstroom under the auspices of the WTO Chairs Programme (outreach component). At the first roundtable on 25 January, which drew participants from academia, government and the private…
Newsletter Issue #2C GVC1
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 GVC analysis roundtable Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis is a complex matter and can involve various levels of firm-level and sector-level empirical research. This was the focus of a roundtable hosted by the TRADE research entity on 25 January at the NWU Potchefstroom Campus. The main presenter, Dr Sonja Grater…
Newsletter Issue #2C GVC2
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 WTO-TRADE GVC roundtable At a roundtable convened by the TRADE research entity at the NWU, Dr Tebogo Makube from the Industrial Procurement Chief Directorate of the dti spoke about the government’s (re)industrialisation drive and the role of local manufacturing in strengthening South Africa’s capacity to produce…
Newsletter Issue #2C CEG
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 GEGAfrica dialogue on GVCs and SMEs On 24 May, Ms Ali Parry (an extraordinary research scientist in the TRADE research entity) attended a dialogue in Pretoria organised by the GEGAfrica group (Global Economic Governance) on the theme: ‘Global Value Chains and SMEs – what role for the G20?’. The main speaker at…
Newsletter Issue #2C TIPS
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 TIPS Development Dialogue On 21 January, a number of TRADE members attended a Development Dialogue arranged by TIPS (Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies) on the topic of Global and Regional Value Chains and how these are creating both opportunities and challenges for South African and regional policymakers and…
Newsletter Issue #2D
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Master's and PhD students tackle pressing economic and trade challenges In today’s complex and unpredictable world, trade policymakers and practitioners cannot afford to be complacent. This realisation is reflected in the dissertation and thesis topics being selected by TRADE’s Master’s and PhD students. From…
Newsletter Issue #2D CAPLP1
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 CAPLP Writing School session #1 The NWU Centre for Academic and Professional Language Practice (CAPLP) held its first Writing School session of the year for Master’s and PhD students on 18 and 19 February. A follow-up session is scheduled for 10 and 11 March 2016. For more details about the Writing School, contact…
Newsletter Issue #2D CAPLP2
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 CAPLP Writing School session #2 The NWU Centre for Academic and Professional Language Practice (CAPLP) held a follow-up Writing School session for Master’s and PhD students on 10 and 11 March 2016. For more details about the Writing School, contact trade@nwu.ac.za . Related news : Master's and PhD students…
Newsletter Issue #2D WTO
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 WTO Chair launch The World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva has awarded one of its prestigious Chairs for 2014 to Prof Wilma Viviers of the North-West University. Viviers, whose ground-breaking research has propelled her to the top echelons of her profession by redefining the way local exporters assess foreign…
Newsletter Issue #2E
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 The informal economy - time for a different policy response Prof Derick Blaauw of the TRADE research entity, together with Dr Anmar Pretorius (TRADE/NWU), Dr Rinie Schenck (University of the Western Cape) and Dr Kotie Viljoen (University of Johannesburg) have spent many years researching the informal economy in…
Newsletter Issue #2E NT
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Guest lecture by Prof Nik Theodore On 17 March, Prof Nik Theodore from the University of Illinois in Chicago, USA, visited TRADE and delivered a lecture at a ‘brown bag’ lunchtime seminar on: ‘Exploring frontier zones of the South African economy: Migration and day labour in Tshwane’. In his lecture, Prof Theodore…
Newsletter Issue #2E ERSA
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 ERSA workshop On 22 January, Prof Derick Blaauw and Dr Carike Claassen attended an ERSA (Economic Research Southern Africa) workshop in Cape Town, the title of which was: ‘What church records can tell us about economic development’. During the colonial era, there was a dearth of reliable information about the…
Newsletter Issue #2F
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 TRADE researchers and partners lift the lid on South Africa’s export and productivity constraints Prof Marianne Matthee and Ms Carli Bezuidenhout of the TRADE research entity have over the last 18 months been participating in a multi-phase research project involving UNU-WIDER (United Nations University’s World…
Newsletter Issue #2F WS
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 SARB/National Treasury/UNU-WIDER workshop On 7 June, Prof Marianne Matthee participated in and delivered a presentation at an SARB/National Treasury/UNU-WIDER workshop held at the South Africa Reserve Bank. The focus of the workshop was on the reasons why South Africa’s productivity is so low. In her…
Newsletter Issue #2F WITS
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Wits Business School public seminar Prof Marianne Matthee and Ms Carli Bezuidenhout from TRADE are part of a research group (including Prof Neil Rankin from Stellenbosch University) who participated in a public seminar at the Wits Business School on 6 June. The purpose of the seminar, whose theme was 'A New…
Newsletter Issue #2F RRFL
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Research results on firm-level export activity published On 21 January at a function in Pretoria, Prof Marianne Matthee and Ms Carli Bezuidenhout from the TRADE research entity presented the first round of results from a far-reaching study in which they are involved, together with UNU-Wider, the National…
Newsletter Issue #2G
NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2/2016 Three more PhDs for the TRADE team Three TRADE staff members recently obtained their PhDs, bringing the total number of those holding a PhD within TRADE to 25 (both permanent staff and extraordinary appointments). Dr Alicia Fourie (whose thesis topic was ‘A case study determining the economic literacy of…