The world economy is going through a phase of considerable turmoil and instability. First, globalisation seems to be reversing with an acceleration of economic disintegration among major trading powers, securitisation of global trade and investment relations within geo-economic blocks and paralysis of multilateral global governance. Second, our domestic economies are undergoing profound structural shifts in the light of the climate emergency, energy scarcity and rise of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. And third, the centre of the world economy is shifting towards the Asia and Global South. How do policy-makers see these developments? And how can states position themselves to benefit rather than lose from today’s phase of turmoil?
This event brings together trade policy-makers and academics to discuss the challenges and policy strategies for the next decade.
Meet our speakers and chair
Ignacio Garcia Bercero () is a Director in DG Trade of the European Commission. Since 2012, he has been responsible for overseeing EC activities in the fields of Neighbouring Countries, US and Canada as well as being the Chief Negotiator for the EU- India FTA.
Iana Dreyer () is the founder editor of Borderlex.eu, the leading European publication on trade policy. Before founding her publishing activity, Iana worked in think tanks, writing on trade and energy policy in Brussels and Paris. She has worked for the European Centre for International Political Economy, the Institute Montaigne and the EU Institute for Security Studies.
Crawford Falconer is Second Permanent Secretary for the Department for International Trade. He also heads the trade negotiation profession within the Civil Service. Crawford has spent over 25 years working on trade policy and trade negotiations both inside and outside government. He has worked in a number of high-profile positions including as the New Zealand Chief Negotiator and Adviser. He most recently served as Professor of Global Value Chains and Trade at Lincoln University, New Zealand.
Han-Koo Yeo is the former Minister for Trade of South Korea and served under President Moon Jae-in from 2021 to 2022. He has published multiple works in both English and Korean, including a Harvard Business School case study about the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and a chapter in the World Bank’s “Special Economic Zones”.
Geoffrey Yu is a Senior EMEA Market Strategist at BNY Mellon. Prior to this he spent almost 14 years at UBS. Additionally, Yu served as an investment strategist for European UHNW clients, providing cross asset UHNW investment and trading ideas.
John Alty () is a Visiting Professor in Practice at 杏吧论坛's European Institute. He was previously the Director General for Trade Policy, Department for International Trade, responsible for building UK trade capacity and developing trade policy post EU referendum.
Robert Basedow () is an Assistant Professor for International Political Economy. Prior to joining 杏吧论坛, he was an official at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, worked as consultant for the European Institutions, the German government and was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
More about this event
This event forms part of 杏吧论坛’s Understanding the UK Economy series, showcasing research and expertise on the state of the UK economy, its global context and its future.
The () is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #杏吧论坛UKEconomy
Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): by on
Podcast & Video
A podcast of this event is available to download from Global Trade Policy Challenges: preparing for the next decade.
A video of this event is available to watch at .
Podcasts and videos of many 杏吧论坛 events can be found at the .