Discussing Intellectual Property Reform in China: Li, Yahong, Hong Kong SAR, Fellow, Stanford Program in International Legal Studies

Discussing Capital Markets in China: Wang, Dequan, China, Fellow, Stanford Program in International Legal Studies.

Lin Shu-ya will discuss the Taiwanese government's reserved land policy that is aimed at aiding indigenous people to be self-sufficient and integrate into mainstream society. This policy has been the main government policy for 50 years even though Ms. Lin argues that collective management might be a better option for the indegenous communities, allowing them to collectively manage their traditional territory. Varamon Ramangkura will discuss te impact of recent WTO free-trade versus the environment disputes on industry in Thailand. Ms Ramangkura will show that pressure from the WTO on the Thai government is forcing the closure of local shrimp farms and reducing the sustainability of this industry in Thailand. Shimamura Kazuyuki will analyze the problems of the land use system in Japan. Even after recent reforms in land use, the municipalities enact undemocratic, informal and opaque local ordinances for land use. Mr. Shimamura argues that the reforms must be adopted by the local governments and made fiscally transparent, be based on the needs of the citizens and that there is a necessity to create a legal foundation for broader delegation, particularly regarding the comprehensive planning system at the municipality level.

The success of India's export-oriented software industry is well known. Whether information technology (IT) can contribute to development beyond the obvious income effects generated by software exports depends on how pervasive are IT's impacts on the economy, ranging from improving the efficiency of existing businesses, to enabling new kinds of goods and services. In a developing country such as India, it is of particular interest whether such benefits can reach the poor, and even help in directly reducing the deprivations associated with poverty. Professor Singh's talk and paper will examine two ongoing experiments that aim to provide IT-based services to rural populations in India. Several features distinguish these experiments from others: a combination of public and private efforts, with "nonprofit" organizations acting as catalysts; goals of commercial sustainability, both for the local entrepreneurs and the nonprofits; and an eclectic approach to the services that are sought to be provided. The paper's main contribution is to draw some preliminary lessons from comparing two different approaches in localities that are geographically close and economically similar. While the ultimate goals of the two organizations studied are quite similar, he identifies some important differences in implementation that may have more general implications for the success of such experiments. Nirvikar Singh is currently Director of the Business Management Economics Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is Professor of Economics. He teaches courses on business strategy, technology and innovation, and electronic commerce, as well as graduate microeconomic theory. He has consulted for the World Bank and for high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Professor Singh's current research topics are electronic commerce, business strategy, technology and innovation, governance and economic reform in India, federalism, international water disputes, and economic growth.

The recent increase in inward FDI (foreign direct investment) has significantly changed the environment of doing business in Japan. These changes will be examined by a "Stanford couple" who have been based in Tokyo since 1990 and are at the center of many of the most interesting changes taking place in Japanese business society, including telecommunications, software, finance, management consulting, and executive search.

Glen S. Fukushima heads the Japan operations of Cadence Design Systems, the $1.4 billion software company and world leader in EDA (electronic design automation), headquartered in San Jose. Previously, he was President of Arthur D. Little, Japan, the management consulting firm (1998-2000), and Vice President of AT&T Japan Ltd. (1990-1998). In the 1980s, he worked in Washington, D.C. at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as Director for Japanese Affairs (1985-1988) and Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China (1988 1990). He was educated at Stanford, Harvard Graduate School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School.

After graduating from Stanford Business School with an MBA in 1987, Sakie T. Fukushima has worked in strategy management consulting at Bain & Company (1987-1991) and in executive search at Korn/Ferry International, the world's largest executive search firm (1991-), where she has served on the Board of Directors since 1995. She has served as Vice President of the Japan Chapter of the Stanford Business School Alumni Association and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Stanford Association. She received an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was educated in Japan at the International Christian University and Seisen College.

Dr. Chowdhury is a vascular surgeon and pioneering public health leader from Bangladesh who wrote "The Politics of Essential Drugs: The Makings of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh." In 1971, Dr. Chowdhury left England to return to what was then East Pakistan and join the war of liberation for Bangladesh. He helped establish a field hospital for freedom fighters and refugees, which lead to the development Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) or "The People's Health Center." GK has trained more than 7,000 barefoot doctors, and serves 1,000 villages in 14 Bangladeshi districts. A pharmaceutical factory was established by GK in 1981 which produces medicines on the World Health Organization's essential medicines list; employs 1,500 people and has an $11 million annual budget. One-half of its profits are reinvested and the other half go to GK's other projects. In 1985, Dr. Chowdhury and GK were awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award (sometimes called the Asian Nobel Peace Prize) and in 1992, the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel Prize). Dr. Chowdhury was instrumental in convincing the Bangladesh government to adopt a National Drug Policy in 1982. This controversial policy promotes essential medicines and discourages the use of drugs with little therapeutic value. GK hosted the People's Health Assembly in December 2000, which challenged global health organizations to improve public health care for the poor. Dr. Chowdhury is this year's International Honoree of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Heroes.