The conference aims to foster a trans-disciplinary exchange of knowledge related to innovation, intellectual property rights, and science and technology policy. Sessions will include keynote speeches, panel discussions, and paper presentations. Scholars (including Ph.D. students) from all disciplines and practitioners interested in the economic, managerial, legal, and policy aspects of innovation studies are encouraged to attend and present their work.

The theme of the APIC conference 2025 is “Reforms to Boost Innovation for Sustainable Development.” To mitigate global challenges and foster sustainable development, it is indispensable to boost innovation. As a result, reforms must be in place to ignite and nurture innovation, both at the national and business levels. The conference emphasizes the importance of institutional, economic, social, environmental, and entrepreneurial reforms to support firms as well as nations to achieve sustainable development goals. It aims to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and networking among policymakers, innovators, entrepreneurs, academia, and industry stakeholders to carry out reforms that boost innovation both nationally and globally.

Topics:

The Asia-Pacific Innovation Conference (APIC) 2025 welcomes original research contributions on all topics related to the conference theme including but not limited to:

• National innovation systems

• Triangular collaboration between University, Industry, and Government for innovation

• International cooperation for innovation

• Innovation strategies and policies

• Innovation financing and management

• Human resources for innovation

• Institutional reforms for innovation

• Intellectual property rights for innovation

• Digital and green transformation

• Global value chain and technology spillovers

• Management of technologies and markets for technology

• Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0

• Entrepreneurial approaches to social innovation

• Innovation for start-ups

• Other topics related to innovation studies

Keynote Speakers

1) Professor Kazuyuki Motohashi is working at The Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo. His research interests include: Co-evolution of science and innovation: New role of university and policy implications to effective industry collaborations; Economic analysis of AI/Big Data/IoT, analysis of platform business and innovation ecosystem; Regional innovation ecosystem: Case studies of Silicon Valley and Shenzhen; Global competition in science innovation; Research on database construction and new methodologies of technology forecasting, based on bibliometric information. Advanced computer science techniques (such as deep neural network) are used for natural language processing in multilingual environment. He has extensive publications in prestigious journals such as Research Policy, China Economic Review, The Journal of Technology Transfer…

2) Dr. Intan Hamdan-Livramento is the Senior Economist working at the Department of Economics and Data Analytics - World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She is responsible for conducting and supervising areas of the division’s work relating to the economics of innovation and intellectual property (IP). She has over fifteen years of experience in economics of innovation and international trade. She has published articles on issues intersecting IP, innovation and less developed economies. Prior to WIPO, Intan worked at the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. She received her doctoral degree in Economics of Innovation from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. She also holds a diplome d’études approfondies (DEA) in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, as well as a master’s degree in international law and economics from the World Trade Institute in Berne, Switzerland. Intan obtained her undergraduate degree in economics from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, USA.

3) Professor Paul H. Jensen is the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Business & Economics at the University of Melbourne. He was awarded the PhD in industrial economics by the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). He has published widely in the area of innovation economics in leading field journals (Journal of Industrial Economics, RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Law & Economics) and in general interest journals (Review of Economics and Statistics, Oxford Economic Papers, Cambridge Journal of Economics). He has been the recipient of numerous ARC Discovery and Linkage Grants over the years and is currently working on a Linkage Grant evaluating the impact of the Indigenous Preferential Procurement Policy. He was an editor of the Australian Economic Review for 5 years and is a frequent commentator on domestic and international public policy. He was formerly Assistant Director of the Melbourne School of Government and a Fellow of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre and has had research visits at global institutions including Oxford University, Hitotsubashi University, Munich University, Polytechnic University of Turin and Leuven University.

4)  Associate Professor Le Thi Thu Ha is working at the Innovation and Incubation Center at FTU. She brings over 20 years of experience in research, teaching, consulting, and coaching, with a strong focus on enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses and products through intellectual property development, innovation-driven business models, and strategic branding. She has designed over 20 capacity-building training models aimed at fostering innovation within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. She has been instrumental in fostering entrepreneurial spirit among Vietnamese youth and business leaders, supporting numerous student- and enterprise-led projects focused on creative solutions, community impact, and sustainable development. Under her leadership, many startups have received accolades at both national and international startup competitions. In 2025, Dr Le Ha is recognized as one of five outstanding individuals by official decision of the Prime Minister for her achievements in supporting students to start businesses, contributing to promoting the national innovation startup ecosystem. She has more than 50 publications in the fields of innovation, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship.

Submission and Timelines

We invite interested authors to submit their papers or 500-word extended abstracts by July 1, 2025, via email at conference@ftu.edu.vn.  All submissions will be peer-reviewed, and the decisions will be sent out by July 15, 2025.

Authors must indicate the name of the presenter and his/her contact details (affiliation and email). All submissions must be submitted via email at conference@ftu.edu.vn. All Inquiries may be addressed to the organizers via email at conference@ftu.edu.vn, cc: qlkh@ftu.edu.vn

Registration

The registration website for the conference will open shortly. Please visit the webpage at http://ap-ic.org for the most current information. The in-person conference registration fee will cover conference registration, conference packet suite, lunches, drinks, and a welcome dinner. Registration rates are as follows:

 Unit: USD

Notes: Early bird registration is made before September 11, 2025.

The organizers will assist confirmed participants needing visa support, such as invitation letters. Participants will be responsible for visa requirements (if required) to enter Viet Nam.

Contacts:

Foreign Trade University (FTU)

Email: conference@ftu.edu.vn, cc to qlkh@ftu.edu.vn

Address: 91, Chua Lang, Lang Thuong, Dong Da, Ha Noi, Viet Nam

Website of FTU: https://ftu.edu.vn/

Website of APIC: http://ap-ic.org