Asia Pacific Policy Project

IAR515F Mining Mongolia

UBC Project to Involve Master's Students in Policy-Making on "Mining Mongolia"

Three Institute of Asian Research (IAR) Professors have developed a new teaching format to simulate resource development policy-making in Mongolia. The seminar asks students in the Master of Arts-Asia Pacific Policy Studies to outline a framework for a stability agreement between Canadian mining companies and the Mongolian government.

The Master in Asia Pacific Policy Studies (MAPPS) has aimed to blend practical elements with academic knowledge since its inception in 2000. As an experiment, three faculty members of the Institute of Asian Research, led by Assistant Professor Julian Dierkes, the Keidanren Chair in Japanese Research, and Professor Timothy Cheek, the Louis Cha Chair in Chinese Research, and Assistant Professor Hyung Gu Lynn, the AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research, are supervising a group of eight students in the Asia Pacific Policy Project, a new seminar format, that focuses on concrete and contemporary policy challenges. Modelled on the "Task Force" project run by the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies for its undergraduate majors, it also builds on the experience of the IAR's recent inaugural Summer Institute, a case-study based executive training course focused on China.

Junior mining companies have made Canada the second-largest foreign investor in Mongolia with investment surpassing $200 Million. Many Mongolians see Canada as a potential saviour of the economy and thus harbinger of a brighter future. Recently, however, this role has been questioned over the perception among some Mongolians that the country's wealth is being "given away to foreigners". To stabilize the investment climate, several Canadian mining companies are negotiating long-term investment agreements with the Mongolian government. It is the framework for such a stability agreement that is now the very timely subject of the experimental Asia Pacific Policy Project.

The UBC students assume the role of a neutral mediator taking the interests of all stakeholders involved in the negotiations into account. Students will learn a tremendous amount about the specific circumstances of Canadian business interests' activities in Asia, about the larger issues of environmental regulation, taxation and corporate responsibility in developing countries, in addition to the practical challenge of balancing stakeholders' interests in policy-making.

Experts from various fields and representatives of some of the stakeholders involved will be invited to meet with the students. UBC colleagues from Mining Engineering and other departments and institutes have agreed to participate, and Canadian and Mongolian government officials will also contribute their expertise.

Finally, students will be put in contact with the Mongolian inter-ministerial working-group that has been created for the purpose of drafting an agreement. They will also engage Mongolian civil society groups advocating for or against resource development policies that have been enacted so far. At the students' initiative, they are organizing their project around a Wiki, an interactive webpage allowing participants in the project to share information interactively and later integrate discussions into a public webpage to report on the outcomes of the project.

Course Syllabus

Background

Institute of Asian Research
The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) is Canada's leading research authority for the study of Asia. Established in 1978, the Institute strives to ensure that Canadians better understand economic and political relations between Asia and Canada and the inherent importance of Asian culture and society within our world. IAR has five geographic centres of research (China, India and South Asia, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia) and a new Religion and Contemporary Society Program pillar.
IAR pursues policy-relevant, interdisciplinary research and programming that focus on the impact of globalization on Asia, Canada-Asian relations, Asian-Pacific migration, political, economic and legal reform, poverty management, transportation, urban housing, security and environmental policy. The Institute emphasizes research and teaching that draws on knowledge of local cultures and languages, socio-economic and political conditions, and historical contexts necessary to generate policy-relevant information.
Through the leadership of Dr. Pitman Potter, an internationally renowned expert on Chinese law and policy in the areas of foreign trade and investment, dispute resolution, intellectual property, contracts, business regulation, and human rights - and with the critical support of donors - IAR provides Canadians with a solid understanding of Asia and its importance to our country and our world.
IAR Program on Inner Asia
Research on Central and Inner Asia has gained renewed prominence in the 21st century as more attention in the social sciences and in the policy community is focusing on the interplay between religious and ethnic identities and some of the Asian states as well as on issues surrounding the management of natural resource endowments. A policy-context to some extent dominated by the legacies of the Soviet Union only makes these issues more pressing and thus command international attention.
The Institute of Asian Research has recognized that expertise on Inner Asia and Central Asia is lacking not only at the IAR, but at UBC and in Canada more broadly. We are attempting to raise the profile of research on this area of great interest to Canadians and hope to establish more sustained activities in the future.
A number of past research projects have heightened our awareness of the research being done on Inner Asia around the world. IAR researchers and other colleagues have thus examined or are conducting projects on:
We hope to continue to build expertise in these fields and related areas of inquiry and welcome suggestions from colleagues and the interested public as to future topics and activities.
In 2005, we inaugurated our Mongolia Lecture Series as a first concrete attempt to engage with Inner Asia more regularly and this lecture series is being continued this fall.
Master of Arts-Asia Pacific Policy Studies
The MAPPS program provides advanced training in research and analysis on policy issues relevant to the Asia Pacific region to graduate students preparing for positions in government departments, non-profit organizations and private sector enterprises, and as preparation for academic doctoral programs. The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) also offers combined MAPPS/MBA and MAPPS/LLB degree programs through combined enrollment in IAR and the Sauder School of Business and Faculty of Law, respectively.

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