GEORGE TOWN, PENANG
27th July, 2011

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, KS Jomo to give Public Lecture on “Globalisation and Penang” on July 28th, 2011

Think City is proud to have prominent Malaysian economist, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, in Penang to deliver his public lecture titled Globalisation and Penang.

The lecture is the fourth installation of the Penang Story Lecture series, which is a joint initiative between Think City and Penang Heritage Trust, together with its knowledge partners Universiti Sains Malaysia and the George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), along with its venue partner Wawasan Open University.

The event is part of the month-long George Town Festival that Penang and its visitors are currently celebrating to commemorate the inscription of the city on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 7th July, 2008.

Penang Story Lectures is a Think City initiative to create awareness about Penang’s history and its heritage. The lectures also aim to explore Penang’s strengths in order to continue to make the state attractive to talent, and also a home where ideas germinate and influence world affairs.

KS Jomo, as he is popularly known in Malaysia, is currently serving as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York.

Jomo’s talk will be held on July 28th, 2011 at Wawasan Open University’s Lecture Theatre Two, while the moderator for the lecture is Dato Dr Sharom Ahmat who is the interim Vice Chancellor of the Albukhary International University.

A synopsis from Jomo’s talk discusses the role Penang played from the 1970s, when it emerged as a preferred location for electronics production, assembly and testing. “More recently, Penang has struggled to regain leadership from the margins by turning to opportunities associated with services in the constantly changing international division of labour.

“Serious consideration of the future of Penang must not only draw on its resources, but also anticipate options available in the fast changing world economy,” he said in the abstract of his talk.

Born in Penang in 1952, Jomo studied at the Westlands Primary School (1959-1963), Penang Free School (PFS, 1964-1966), Royal Military College (RMC, 1967-1970), Yale (1970-1973) and Harvard (1973-1977). He was Professor in the Applied Economics Department, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya until November 2004.


He was Founder Director (1978-2004) of the Institute of Social Analysis (INSAN) and Founder Chair (2001-2004) of IDEAs, International Development Economics Associates (www.ideaswebsite.org) where he now serves on the Advisory Panel. He has authored and edited over a hundred books and translated 12 volumes besides writing many academic papers and articles for the media.