Page 6 - The South China Business Journal
P. 6
ITOR’s Note
Dr. Harley Seyedin By the time you read this message, I will have already left for Norway to
President fulfill my role as the 2017 recipient of the Oslo Business for Peace Award by
AmCham South China attending the 2018 Oslo Business for Peace Summit and witnessing the 2018
Award by the Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics.
While in Oslo, I will join a discussion panel with David Sloan Wilson, a
highly original evolutionary thinker, who – on the basis of path-breaking
research in biology – has developed a perspective with broad implications for
economics, as well as social and behavioral science.
The fascinating thing about David’s approach, as explained by Professor Atle
Midttun, Department of Law and Governance, Norwegian Business School, is
the multilevel selection perspective where collaboration and competition at
different levels drive successful development. It is, in other words, not a question
of either or, but an interplay between opposite forces at different levels. This
takes evolutionary analysis beyond the “egoistic gene” paradigm, to a broader
evolutionary perspective that is closer to the original Darwinian thinking.
During the discussions, I will present my own findings in support of
Professor Sloan Wilson’s evolutionary theories. My research will show that
China’s rapid economic and social rise, which has benefited people in many
countries, has been in great part due to a collabrative evolution—a result
of the cooperation between China and many other countries in the world. I
predict that this progress will continue if individual players are able to put
aside their personal interests for the benefit of all nations involved.
Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President
and Head of International Affairs, notes in an interview in this month’s
edition of SCBJ that both sides lose when this cooperation breaks down.
Chamber members thrive on competition no matter what ownership status
of national origin that competition may have. Thus, foreign investment is an
important economic development driver for all involved. We only ask for a
level playing field so that the market can determine the winners and losers.
Myron will be in Guangzhou this month to co-chair the 2018 Guangdong-
U.S. Investment Cooperation Conference with Guangdong Governor Ma
Xingrui. The Conference is co-organized by AmCham South China, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the Guangdong Provincial Government. Both
of these men know that American and Chinese companies remain bullish
on mutually beneficial economic opportunities, but unpredictability in the
market is not helping the relationship between the two countries. As Myron
says in the interview, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of our leaders
and policymakers getting the relationship “right.”
4 AmCham South China
Dr. Harley Seyedin By the time you read this message, I will have already left for Norway to
President fulfill my role as the 2017 recipient of the Oslo Business for Peace Award by
AmCham South China attending the 2018 Oslo Business for Peace Summit and witnessing the 2018
Award by the Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics.
While in Oslo, I will join a discussion panel with David Sloan Wilson, a
highly original evolutionary thinker, who – on the basis of path-breaking
research in biology – has developed a perspective with broad implications for
economics, as well as social and behavioral science.
The fascinating thing about David’s approach, as explained by Professor Atle
Midttun, Department of Law and Governance, Norwegian Business School, is
the multilevel selection perspective where collaboration and competition at
different levels drive successful development. It is, in other words, not a question
of either or, but an interplay between opposite forces at different levels. This
takes evolutionary analysis beyond the “egoistic gene” paradigm, to a broader
evolutionary perspective that is closer to the original Darwinian thinking.
During the discussions, I will present my own findings in support of
Professor Sloan Wilson’s evolutionary theories. My research will show that
China’s rapid economic and social rise, which has benefited people in many
countries, has been in great part due to a collabrative evolution—a result
of the cooperation between China and many other countries in the world. I
predict that this progress will continue if individual players are able to put
aside their personal interests for the benefit of all nations involved.
Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President
and Head of International Affairs, notes in an interview in this month’s
edition of SCBJ that both sides lose when this cooperation breaks down.
Chamber members thrive on competition no matter what ownership status
of national origin that competition may have. Thus, foreign investment is an
important economic development driver for all involved. We only ask for a
level playing field so that the market can determine the winners and losers.
Myron will be in Guangzhou this month to co-chair the 2018 Guangdong-
U.S. Investment Cooperation Conference with Guangdong Governor Ma
Xingrui. The Conference is co-organized by AmCham South China, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the Guangdong Provincial Government. Both
of these men know that American and Chinese companies remain bullish
on mutually beneficial economic opportunities, but unpredictability in the
market is not helping the relationship between the two countries. As Myron
says in the interview, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of our leaders
and policymakers getting the relationship “right.”
4 AmCham South China
