Monday (25/09), one of the events from The 11th Gadjah Mada International Conference on Economics and Business (GAMAICEB) 2023 was held: the first-day plenary session. Organized at The Alana Hotel and Convention Center Yogyakarta, this year’s GAMAICEB was themed “Collaborative Research and Policy Action for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals”. During this session, three speakers presented their findings in the field of economics and business: Miklos Gaspar (Director of the United Nations Information Center), Dr. Kazuhiko Yokota (School of Commerce, Waseda University), and Dr. Leslie Hodder (The International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER)).
Miklos Gaspar’s Session: Data-Based Policies to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The plenary session began with Miklos Gaspar (Director of the United Nations Information Center) presenting his findings regarding the urgency of utilizing data in policy formulation. This is because policies not grounded in data tend to be subjective, leading to uncertain outcomes. An example of data-based policy implementation in Indonesia is The World Food Programme (WFP) in Sanggau, East Kalimantan. The program utilized data sourced from the Food Security and Vulnerability Atlas, containing diverse information related to food security from 514 cities and districts in Indonesia. The program was initiated because 4 out of 180 villages in Sanggau were food insecure.
A success story from this program is the improvement in a region called Desa Idas. Previously, Desa Idas faced alarming food insecurity. However, with this program, the community could grow their food, such as vegetables. Additionally, road improvements were made to facilitate access to markets for selling their produce. Currently, the village is no longer categorized as food insecure.
Reflecting on the real-life example, data can be applied to achieve optimal policies, including attaining SDGs. The Indonesian government can take several routes to strengthen data utilization for development goals. Collaboration and coordination with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) involve enhancing data availability, data processing training, and collaboration with global practitioners.
Furthermore, the United Nations and Bappenas have developed SDG Dashboard 3.0 and SDG Good Practice Repository as platforms providing easily understandable data visualizations. However, the government still needs to develop new approaches or methods for data collection. Estimates for indicators across broader geographical regions, such as at the district and city levels, can be obtained by enhancing data utilization.
Dr. Kazuhiko Yokota’s Session: Evolution of Global Supply Chains in Various Regions
The event continued with a presentation by Dr. Kazuhiko Yokota (School of Commerce, Waseda University) on international trade. Traditionally, international trade data has been presented as gross value. However, global trade is now dominated by intermediate goods rather than final goods. This phenomenon leads to an issue known as double counting. Intermediate goods, typically raw materials for other products, may be involved in calculations more than once, leading to inaccuracies in international trade value calculations. Dr. Kazuhiko then proposed the concept of value-added trade, using the added value of products in global trade value calculations.
The discussion proceeded to the topic of global value chains (GVC). The presence of GVCs has been a significant catalyst in economic growth and development. With a globally dispersed supply chain system, production can be more efficient. One of the main drivers of GVC implementation is the wage gap between countries. Research found that a small wage gap between countries is a factor in forming GVCs in the European Union. In contrast, a large wage gap drives GVCs in East Asia. From the economic growth perspective, the type of GVC in the European Union is desirable, while the type in East Asia is less favored.
Dr. Leslie Hodder’s Session: Developments and Challenges in Sustainable Financial Reporting
The final speaker in the first-day plenary session was Dr. Leslie Hodder (The International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER)), who discussed sustainable financial reporting. Although sustainable reporting has rapidly developed, no international standards still govern it. Consequently, each country, even each company, can have its interpretation in implementing these methods.
Moreover, some concepts in financial reporting are challenging to transfer into sustainable reporting, such as materiality and representational faithfulness. Modifying financial terms into sustainable forms can change the precision and meaning of these terms. Another challenge in implementing sustainable reporting is the assurance aspect. Therefore, academics must re-examine various aspects to confront the challenges in implementing sustainable reporting.
This presentation concluded the first-day plenary session of GAMAICEB 2023. On the other hand, this event contributed to FEB UGM’s mission as an agent of SDGs. In Miklos Gaspar’s presentation, the SDG point to be achieved was the first, poverty alleviation. Various government programs need to consider using a database in their implementations to produce optimal outcomes. Meanwhile, Dr. Kazuhiko’s session reflected SDG point seventeen, the existence of global value chains as a form of international partnership. Finally, Dr. Leslie’s presentation represented SDG point twelve, sustainable financial recording in a company’s production and consumption processes.
Reportage: Rizal Farizi
