EEPSEA participated in the Second Myanmar Green Economy Green Growth Forum held at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyidaw, Myanmar last 13 to 15 November 2012. With the theme “Moving Forward”, the forum was held to further facilitate the exchange of state-of-the-art knowledge and practices started during the first forum held the previous year.
Focus was given on how to promote and implement efficient natural resources management for green economy and growth in Myanmar. Organized by the non-profit GEGG Myanmar Association, the forum was participated by more than 500 participants, which include senior Myanmar government officials and parliamentarians, private sector managers, academia, representatives of local and international non-governmental organizations, the Diplomatic Corp, and the media.
EEPSEA supported the participation of five forum speakers. Dr. Marian Segura Delos Angeles, a Natural Resource Economist formerly with the World Bank, presented on natural capital accounting during the forum’s segment on “Implementing Enabling Means for Green Economy Green Growth”. She introduced natural capital and comprehensive wealth as indicators of sustainability, approaches embodied in the recently approved international statistical standard, the System of Environment and Economic Accounts (SEEA).
EEPSEA Senior Economists Dr. Arief Anshory Yusuf, Dr. Pham Khanh Nam, and Dr. Orapan S. Nabangchang, together with Dr. Vo Thanh Danh of Cantho University, presented in the parallel session hosted by EEPSEA Director Herminia A. Francisco on “Environment, Economics and Research Methodologies: Improving Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia”. Each presented case studies based on their EEPSEA-supported researches focusing on the economic tool used.
Dr. Yusuf presented on the use of modeling to determine whether the introduction of a carbon price tax in Indonesia is regressive. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam presented a cost-benefit analysis of different marine protected area management alternatives to determine their economic efficiency. Dr. Vo Thanh Danh presented the risk cost-benefit economic analysis of creating a concrete sea dike system to adapt to sea level rise in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Lastly, Dr. Nabangchang presented on the use of the Contingent Valuation Method in determining whether urban dwellers in China, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are willing to pay to protect marine turtles.