Press Release

The School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung (SBM ITB) - in collaboration with Universiti Utara Malaysia (Malaysia) and Naresuan University (Thailand) - has successfully organized the 1st International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets (ICMEM) on August 10-12, 2016. The conference aimed at bringing academics, practitioners, and governmental bodies together to discuss economic and management issues relevant to emerging markets.

Dr. Yunieta A. Nainggolan (the Chairperson of the Executive Committee) mentioned in her opening speech that the conference was expected to draw a big picture of business and economics through qualified academic studies that could be referred to by policy makers and business practitioners. Furthermore, Prof. Sudarso Kaderi Wiryono (Dean of SBM ITB) mentioned in his opening speech about his expectation that more qualified assessment of the economic condition of the emerging markets would arise through the event's networking sessions and collaboration among the participants.

With "Managing Business Opportunities in Global Uncertainties" as the theme, ICMEM 2016 has selected more than 200 papers, 140 of which were successfully presented at the conference.

The Keynote Speaker on the first day of the conference was Prof. Naoyuki Yoshino, the Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute, providing insight on “Financial Infrastructure for Sustainable Growth in Asia.” The second day of the conference was highlighted by two panel sessions. The first panel session gathered Prof. Rezaul Kabir (University of Twente), Mrs. Sri Safitri, MTE (Senior Advisor, Chief of Digital & Strategic Portfolio Office, PT. Telkom Indonesia), and Prof. Togar M. Simatupang (SBM ITB), providing their insight on "Digital Economy in Emerging Markets." This was followed by the second panel session on "Management Education in Emerging Markets," with Prof. Markus Freiburghaus (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland), Dr. Evan Lau Poh Hock (University Malaysia Sarawak), and Dr. Reza Ashari Nasution (SBM ITB) as the speakers. Aside from these sessions, there were parallel sessions of presentation, divided into nine streams: (1) Sustainable Technology Management; (2) Knowledge Management and Learning Organization; (3) Operations Management, Service and Performance; (4) Marketing, Business Strategy, and Ethics; (5) Investment, Finance and Risk Management; (6) Economic, Banking, and Accounting; (7) Strategic Decision Making and Negotiation; (8) Human Capital Management; and (9) Entrepreneurship.

The conference concluded with a gala dinner and a closing ceremony, allowing all participants and speakers to mingle. During the event, Prof. Kuntoro Mangkusobroto (UKP4 and the former Chief Minister of Mines and Energy of Indonesia and also the co-founder of SBM ITB) gave a speech about the relevance and urgency of the conference and some introduction to Bali as the island that hosted the conference.

Finally, the closing ceremony was enriched by the announcement and awarding of the best paper(s), with nine categories (based on the conference streams) and one overall best paper winner. It is the hope that the International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets becomes an annual event that would become an avenue for academics, including students, and practitioners to share their insight on management that would contribute to businesses and governments, as well as the society at large.