February 15, 2022 | 7:00 pm-8:30 pm ET | via Zoom

SYNOPSIS

“Black swan” events, like the Covid-19 pandemic and concerns about the weaponization of supply chains, rare earth materials, and sensitive technologies, have made the global supply chain vulnerable to under diversification. The rise in selective diversification has limited decoupling due to scale, logistical advantages, and underdeveloped human capital. The shift to selective diversification favouring cheaper labour, which is often associated with forced labour conditions, has changed the supply chains related cost. High tech and global trading have been impacted by this trend via a bottleneck in the supply prompting technology firms to selectively use the supply chain to engage in economic coercion and vulnerabilities. Like many other car manufacturing centers, Canada is not immune to the global shift. For health-related technologies, rare earth materials, and sensitive technologies, like-minded states have responded by prioritizing transparent, rules-based approaches to regional governance and commerce for mutually beneficial dependency within the Indo-Pacific region.

During the webinar, the speakers will address how the trends associated with selective diversification and investment in the resilience of technology, health-related supply chains, and low-value supply chains are related to Canada's engagement in the Indo-Pacific and deepening commitment to shaping the regional order. The webinar and policy project has three objectives: identifying the problem, having an end goal collaboration, and encouraging the use of instruments of diversification.

Speakers

• Dr. Amitendu Palit is a Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
• Dr. Suzuki Kazuto is Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo
• Sarah Goldfeder is a policy professional with General Motors Canada
• Don Bubar is President and CEO of Avalon
• Stephen R Nagy is a senior associate professor at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute, a fellow at CGAI, and visiting fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs.

Moderator 

• Colin Robertson is Vice President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute