Organized each year by the UOG School of Business & Public Administration, Nagoya University, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Osaka Prefecture University, and the College of Micronesia-Federated States of Micronesia, the conference regularly attracts an international audience, with this year’s attendees tuning in from Guam, the U.S. mainland, the FSM, Japan, Hong Kong, and China.

“This is a special academic event, where the spirit of academic inquiry and discovery is shared through research and scholarly activity," said Annette Santos, dean of the UOG SBPA, during her opening remarks. “By bringing this [international] community of scholars … the spirit of scholarship is deepened, and the exchange of knowledge becomes so much richer."

The conference comprised 37 presentations over two days covering research in the key topics of international business, economics, accounting and finance, marketing, pedagogy, and sustainable transportation, agriculture, and tourism. Among the presenters were several UOG undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and alumni. Other UOG faculty, alumni, and graduate students served as session chairs. 

The ICBEIT conference series encourages collaborative efforts with multiple universities and supports UOG’s Para Hulo’ strategic plan as it provides an opportunity for UOG to become more visible internationally in the area of research as well as in nurturing partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. 

“The number of participants was evidence that the ICBEIT claimed victory over coronavirus,” said Maria Claret M. Ruane, chairwoman of the conference and professor of economics at UOG. “In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic failed to prevent this group of scholars from sharing ideas and engaging in meaningful discussions, making connections, learning from each other’s different cultural backgrounds and academic disciplines, and encouraging, supporting, and rejoicing in each other’s research contributions.”

The annual ICBEIT series has been rated by its participants as a successful and high quality scholarly event, with about half of participants returning every year and more than 90% of participants rating the conference as “excellent” or “very good.”

“There is so much we can learn from each other — all we need to do is create the opportunity to get together,” Ruane said.

Also co-chairing the conference were:

• Professor Akihiro Noguchi of Nagoya University’s Graduate School of Economics-Economic Research Center
• Professor Mineo Tsuji of Osaka Prefecture University-School of Management
• Instructor Angelina T. Tretnoff of the College of Micronesia-FSM
• Professor Michael Angelo A. Cortez of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University-Graduate School of Management.

The ICBEIT 2021 was co-sponsored by the Society of Economics at the Osaka Prefecture University and the Omicron Delta Epsilon chapter at UOG.

Download the Conference Program