Publication: The Business Times, p 10 Date: 17 January 2012 Headline: Asean should have its own Erasmus

COMMENTARY

Asean should have its own Erasmus It needs a bold vision and mindful leadership to enhance connectivity .and innovation through collaborative knowledge hubs

By THOMAS MENKHOFF

I F all goes well, Asean will be turning into a single economic bloc by 2015. Despite challenges ahead such as de- velopment gaps, infrastructural bot- tlenecks or the issue of the South Chi- na Sea, there is one opporhmity with great potential which can be easily re- alised: pan-Asean mobility of stu-

dents and educators. While it is envisaged that Asean will eventually become some- thing like a eurozone entity with no trade barriers, a common visa system, and possi- bly even a single currency, the further expan- sion of pan-Asean learning opportunities can be a quick win.

A possible role model is the European Er- asmus programme, a backronym for the Eu- ropean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. Named after the Dutch philosopher and theologian Desi- derius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) who sought wisdom in many .countries, the Europe-wide Erasmus programme has ena- bled more than 2.2 million students (includ- ing thousands of higher education faculty and staff) to learn across Europe since it was established in 1987.

In 1989, I spent a term at the reputable London School of Oriental and Aii-ican Stu- dies (SOAS), a college of the University of London, to learn more about the People's Re- public of China. While exploring other places

East Asia scholars in those days such as pro- fessor Elizabeth Croll who contributed great- ly to the dev.elopment of SOAS as one of the most reputable think tanks specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the near and Middle East. Like thousands of other stu- dents, I benefited enormously from this tem- porary migration in terms of knowIedge gains, maturity and social network ties to knowledge centres in East and South-east Asia, including Singapore.

As the global knowledge tide is increa- singly shifting towards Asia, Asean's tradi- tional knowledge hubs such as Bandung In- stitute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia or Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, Malaysia, are becoming important both as catalysts of knowledge-centric development

FILE PHOTC

Rigged to go: Singapore's knowledge cluster creation know-how indirectly points to the great potential ofAsean's knowledge hubs a s drivers of inclusive growth which need to be further built up and nurtured through target-oriented development measures

processes in their own countries and inter- esting places of learning for pan-Asean stu- dents and educators.

One of USM's strengths, for example, is in sustainable green and healthcare technology with a focus on those who live in poverty. A recent invention from USM is FruitPlast, a bi- odegradable plastic film made from tropical fruit waste which won a gold medal at the In- ternational Trade Fair Ideas-Inventions- New Product (IENA 2011) in Germany. Ex- amples of potentially interesting ITB courses

include geophysical engineering (Bandung's most famous tourist volcano. Mount Tangku- ban Perahu, is located 28 km north of the city), Indonesian architecture or ancient In- donesian art.

A key challenge is to further promote these centres with their local knowledge as- sets through, say, study grants among Asean students and scholars who often prefer to study in Europe or the US. Not only will this help the Asean community to appreciate the region's rich diversity in terms of culture, bi-

odiversity or doing busmess, it will also cre- ate a new generation of knowledgeable pan-Asean brand ambassadors supportive of Asean's vision.

Just as in Europe where universities are part and parcel of the triple helix of higher educational institutions, government bodies and industry, an increasing number of Asean's academic knowledge hubs are firm- ly embedded in local and international net- works of research & development (R&D) in support of indigenous development proces- ses. However, the average citizen of an Asean country arguably knows very little about the core competencies of urban or m- ral universities in other Asean member coun- tries. Dedicated and well funded pan-Asean exchange programmes can change all that.

Within South-east Asia, Singapore has taken the lead in developing a know- ledge-based economy with various sustaina- ble knowledge hubs such as the marine clus- ter, comprising more than 5,000 establish- ments in three sectors: shiprepair and con- version, shipbuilding and offshore.

Since its creation in the 1960s. this clus- ter has played a significant role in Singa- pore's economy in terms of job creation and value added. In 2008, it provided 70,000 jobs of which 12,000 were skilled workers with an output in 2009 of S$16.83 billion. The most important role, providing 55 per cent of total industry earnings, is played by the offshore sector. Respective cluster com- panies are situated in close proximity to one another in the south-western region of Singa- pore called Tuas.

With 70 per cent of the global market share of floating production storage offload- ing (FPSO) vessel conversion, 70 per cent of world market share for jack-up rig building and 20 per cent of world market share for shiprepair, Singapore's marine cluster con- tinues to thrive due to good knowledge gov- ernance at the national level and effective hu- man capital management at the micro levels of both the hub and within pafticipating firms.

A key corporate actor within the Singa- pore marine cluster wth over 300 years of combined experience is the Keppel group of companies, comprising Keppel Fels, Keppel Shipyard and Keppel Singmarine. Keppel Off- shore & Marine's companies and yards are situated relatively close to one another with- in the cluster which facilitates knowledge

sharing and creation, arguably key success factors in this business. In terms of product innovations, Keppel Offshore & Marine is well known for its ultra deepwater solutions such as semisubmersibles or compact drill ships. It also built the first pair of icebrea- kers in the hot Asian tropic region destined for customers in the West.

Institutional cluster actors which helped to create, maintain and expand the sector in- clude Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB), the Maritime and Port Authori- ty (MPA) and the Centre for Offshore Re- search & Engineering (Core) in the Faculty of Engineering at the National University of Sin- gapore (NUS) with its endowed Keppel Pro- fessorship in Ocean, Offshore and Marine Technology. Core and Keppel's research & development units represent important knowledge-centric nodes in Singapore's off- shore marine hub. Historically speaking, the hub's successful evolution also benefited from techmcal assistance provided by sever- al European countries, including Germany's German-Singapore Institute (GSI), in the ar- ea'of precision engineering know-how.

Singapore's knawledge cluster creation know-how indirectly points to the great po- tential of Asean's knowledge hubs as drivers of inclusive growth which need to be further built up and nurtured through target-orien- ted development measures. An important el- ement of such efforts must be the creation of an "Asean higher education area" which will help to foster peace and innovation through- out South-east Asia, just as it did in Europe.

Besides regular exchanges to .enhance transnational mobility within Asean and be- yond, specific measures need to be initiated to connect Asean's higher education institu- tions and to kick-start intra-regional, collabo- rative research programmes, actionable knowledge networks and multilateral lear- ning projects, for example, with a focus on science & technology for sustainable develop- ment. As in Europe where the Erasmus pro- gramme led to the modernisation of higher education institutions and systems, Asean needs a bold vision and mindful leadership to enhance connectivity and innovation through collaborative knowledge hubs.

The writer is an associate professor of organisational behaviour & human

resources (practice) at the Singapore Management Universit.~

Source: The Business Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.