JAN WONGCHUKING

http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/cg_jc2007051101.html

My name is Jan (Yahn) Wongchuking and Im a 4th year student majoring in Economics. Some of the areas that interest me are how businesses can affect climate change w/o incurring startup costs, the impact of ebusiness the in the developing world, mobile phones, etc. I will be discussing briefly the new developments in some of these areas.

The Pollution Prevention and Energy Efficient initiative was introduced by an American diplomat to the Chinese Chamber of commerce sometime earlier this year. This iniative is a setup where banks, businesses, and servicing companies work together to provide energy efficient technology while still making profits. This is definetly a big step for China, which is known for its pollution problems. Signs of this intiative working are evident in numerous industries where a textile company saved around 100,000 dollars and a company turning methane based emissions into usable electricity. A structure in where permits can be traded can be found when the EPA implemented the Clean Air Action plan in notable US cities such as LA and New York. Several hindrances remain however as China lacks the infastructure in enforcing their tradeable permits though the US had those same problems early when the plan was in place.

Another technology which Im possibly interested is in how ebusiness can affect the developing world. Recently, we have seen how ICT, known as Information and Communication Technology affects in the way businesses outsource their divisions. The global economy has seen the development of technologies such as etourism and online R and D businesses. There are still huge challenges that remain though. Many developing nations, who rely on etourism as a way of boosting their exposure to the world and thus gaining financial investment lack epayments on their websites for example. The key in making sure that ebusinesses are common in the developing world are making sure that open source software is accessible, raising awareness for ICT technologies, legal infrastucture to put ebusiness in place, etc.

I feel I can contribute to the numerous public policy decisions that these types of intiatives will be exposed to after having taken a few courses regarding the subject. Also, possible business skills might be also of help since a key factor in having these technologies/policies be succesful is putting them in the right marketing channels which is something I have acquired in an academic setting.