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International Conference organised by North South University

An international conference on 'Governance and Public Policy in South and South-East Asia' was held under the Master in Public Policy and Governance (MPPG) Programme, Department of General and Continuing Education, North South University on July 13 - 14, 2012 at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Dhaka. Professor Dr A K Azad Chowdhury, Chairman (State Minister), University Grants Commission, Bangladesh, spoke as the chief guest while Professor Hafiz G A Siddiqi, Vice Chancellor, NSU, chaired the plenary session. Dr Ali Farazmand, Professor of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University, USA, and Dr Akbar Ali Khan, Former Advisor, Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, presented the keynote papers. Dr Farazmand presented his paper on 'Governance in the Age of Globalisation: Challenges and Opportunities for South and South East Asia'. The other key note paper was on “The Relevance of 'Good Governance' Concept: Revisiting Goals, Agenda and Strategies”, presented by Dr Akbar Ali Khan.

	Courtesy: NSU

Considering the contexts and issues in public policy and governance, the main aim of the conference was to bring different perspectives of public policy and governance issues, concerns and good practices to analyse, understand and contribute to the scanty literature on governance and public policy in a regional and comparative perspective of South and South-East Asia.

The main theme of the conference was 'Governance and Public Policy in South and South-East Asia' which was divided in nine sub-themes: Theories of Governance - Asian perspectives; Change and New Innovation in Public Sector Management; Interface between Politics and Administration, Implications on Development; Challenges and Issues of Policy Making in a Globalised World; Governance Challenges Role of Civil Society; Public Bureaucracy and Public Policy - Challenges and Changing Role; Experience with New Public Management (NPM) and Post-NPM Reforms; Transparency, Accountability and Citizen's Trust in Public Institution; and Local Governance and Development. 40 papers were presented in different parallel sessions. As many as 20 international scholars representing India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, Norway, Japan, Australia, USA, UK, Singapore, Brunei, Canada, and Malaysia attended the conference. After peer review, some of the papers of the conference will soon be published by a reputed publisher.