EIITF: Empirical Issues In International Trade and Finance

As Indian Institute of Foreign Trade entered its golden jubilee year, bi-annual conference on Empirical Issues in International Trade and Finance (EIITF) was held at IIFT Kolkata, which opened the planned series of events for the year. This conference was the third in series which was initially launched in 2008 at IIFT, Kolkata campus and is conducted alternatively in Delhi and Kolkata since then.

With the progress of globalization, a large part of trade and financial transactions now involve cross border flow. The theme of the conference revolved around understanding the intricacies of these flows for trade and financial transactions and its benefit for organizations as well as countries. There were lectures and technical sessions on Gravity model of trade which has recently completed its 50 years of use. The topic of Micro finance as a tool to address the financial requirements was touched upon as well.

The theme of EIITF was in sync with the rapid progress of globalization of the world and increased interest of researchers in the field. The main aim of this conference, which was to bring the scholars together working in this field so that they can exchange knowledge and gain from each other’s experience, was achieved.

The conference was inaugurated by Dr. C.Rangarajan, Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Jeffrey H. Bergstrand, Professor in University of Notre Dameand Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of London School of economics addressed the audience as special key note speakers.

The conference was then taken forward by faculty from various esteemed institutes across world as well as eminent personalities from industry. The sessions revolved around trade and development, finance, trade theories, stock market returns and India’s performance with special emphasis on international aspect. Discussions were enriched by industry insights from experts like Ganesha Wignaraja, Asian Development Bank, Jaijit Bhattacharya, Director-Government Affairs, Hewlett – Packard India Sales Pvt. Ltd and Renu S Parmar, Advisor, Planning Commission.