Asia Institute for Political Economy (AIPE) summer academic programme at HKU

The School of Economics and Finance, in conjunction with The Fund for American Studies and George Mason University in Washington D.C., offers a 3-week academic programme at The University of Hong Kong in summer term each year.

In 2012, students from around the world, including Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam congregated in Hong Kong to participate in the Asia Institute for Political Economy summer academic programme to learn about the principles of free market economics and political concepts.

Universities represented from abroad include, Drexel University, Ewha Womans University, Hamilton College, Hanoi Foreign Trade University, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kathmandu University, Myanmar Institute of Theology, National Chengchi University, Purbanchal University, Royal University of Law and Economic Science, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Saint Anselm College, Singapore Management University, St Cloud State University, State University of Jakarta, State University of New York at Buffalo, Tbilisi State University, United States Air Force Academy, United States Coast Guard Academy, United States Military Academy, University of Cambodia, University of Colombo, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies, University of Malaya, University of Michigan, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, William Paterson University, Wyoming Catholic College, Yale University, Yangon University of Foreign Languages and from the China Mainland – Central University of Finance and Economics, Fudan, Shanghai Jiao tong, Sun Yat-Sen, Tsinghua, Zhejiang University of Media's Communications and Zhejiang.

For three weeks, 67 students lived and studied on campus, and engaged in discussions on global economic and trade issues with one another as well as with regional specialists, industry leaders, legislators and professors from the United States and Hong Kong. Topics ranged from the rule of law and the property rights infrastructure as the underpinnings of a free market system, the local and regional equity markets, to the factors underlying China's economic growth. Well-known and popular speakers included Mr. Andrew Work, Mr. Richard Vuylsteke etc. Extracurricular activities were planned to promote both cross-cultural awareness and exchange.