"knowledge management" in the growth of the economy, especially in the mature stage of economic development, which needs "more concentration in business innovation rather than a focus on efficiency" said Professor Wann-Yih Wu. — Illustrative image/ Photo foman.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — As Viet Nam's economy matures, the country will need to focus more on innovation than on efficiency if it wants to be globally competitive, the chair of the finance depart-ment at Nanhua University in Taiwan said at the second International Conference on Finance and Economics that kicked off yesterday in HCM City.

Professor Wann-Yih Wu, in one of three keynote speeches yesterday, spoke about the relationship between the global economy and "multinational knowledge management", comparing the economic outlook and competitiveness of Viet Nam and Taiwan.

He said that global competitiveness was driven by efficiency and innovation and that an innovation-driven economy must be essential after the economy reaches a certain level of maturity.

He emphasised the importance of "knowledge management" in the growth of the economy, especially in the mature stage of economic development, which needs "more concentration in business innovation rather than a focus on efficiency."

Hundreds of researchers, practitioners and scholars from universities and companies worldwide are taking part in the conference, which is being held at Ton Duc Thang University.

In another keynote speech yesterday, Professor Tomas Pavelka of the University of Economics in Prague discussed the impact of recession on the labour markets of the Czech Republic.

He said the highest unemployment rates in the country belonged to young people and people with the lowest levels of education.

Also speaking at the conference, Professor Ji-Chai Lin, chair and professor of the Finance Department of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said there were rewards and risks of investing in R&D (Research and Development)-intensive firms.

Lin said that he and another researcher found evidence that a high R&D capacity relative to firm valuation made R&D-intensive firms attractive takeover targets.

The higher takeover probability also requires higher returns to compensate for the risk, he said.

Today, Professor Fred-eric Bouchon, associate dean of international relations at the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Taylor's University in Malaysia, will discuss the security perception of foreign tourists before and after visiting North Cyprus.

Dr Dinh Tho Nguyen, chair of research at the International School of Business at the HCM City University of Economics, will talk about fuzzy-set comparative analysis of marketing capability configurations.

The conference will also feature sessions on accounting policy choices, firms' decisions on long-term debts, interest-rate policy and monetary policy prior to and since Viet Nam joined the WTO, the relationship between budget deficit and economic growth in Viet Nam, and the impact of microcredit on living standards, among other topics.

All papers of the conference will be published in the Conference Proceedings and will be submitted for inclusion in the well-known Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index database.

Ton Duc Thang University, along with the University of Economics in Prague and Corvinus University in Budapest, organised the conference. —VNS