Waterloo, Canada - Jim Balsillie, chair of The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a leading Canadian research centre focused on international relations and policy, is pleased to announce that Dr. John M. Curtis has joined CIGI as a Distinguished Fellow.
In addition to becoming a CIGI Distinguished Fellow, Dr. Curtis will take on the position of Director of CIGI's BRICSAM project (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, ASEAN States, and Mexico), a major research project on Shifting Global Economic Power and International Governance.
Dr. Curtis was most recently the Chief Economist of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and was the founding Chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's Economic Committee between 1994-1998.
John English, CIGI's Executive Director, said, "CIGI attracts world class expertise to ensure topical, high quality research and to promote better understanding and effective advocacy on international governance issues. We welcome the appointment of Dr. Curtis to lead CIGI's BRICSAM project. Dr. Curtis, he noted, joins other CIGI Distinguished Fellows, Andrew F. Cooper, Louise Fréchette, Paul Heinbecker, John Whalley, and Director of Research, Daniel Schwanen.
About CIGI's BRICSAM Research
BRICSAM countries are a group of large developing economies whose probable move to higher levels of income over the next three to five decades will have multiple ripple effects on the global economy. These effects will be felt at the regional level as many of these countries become regional economic hubs and are thus able to exercise ‘soft' power both within their respective regions and globally. Not only will these countries experience significant changes at the national level as a result of these effects, there may also be a shift in the global economic balance of power and an overhaul of key aspects of global economic and financial governance architecture. With the goal to evaluate scenarios for the evolution of the global economy, a team of international researchers and leading industry practitioners has been convened to report upon and make policy recommendations on the implications of BRICSAM.
About Dr. John M. Curtis
John Curtis became the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's first Chief Economist in 2004. Prior to that, he was Senior Policy Advisor and Coordinator, Trade and Economic Policy, and Director of Trade and Economic Analysis, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Dr. Curtis' research interests include all aspects of international trade, including the relationship of multilateral trade arrangements such as the GATT and WTO to existing and emerging regional trading arrangements in Asia, Europe and Latin America. He played a major role in the development of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, serving as the founding Chair of the Economic Committee for it's first four years (1994-1998). At the same time, he was involved in the work of the OECD Trade Committee and in the Government of Canada's private sector consultative process on trade policy. Prior to that, he participated in the Canada-USA Free Trade negotiations, was the federal government's first coordinator of regulatory reform at the Treasury Board, held various policy advisory and management positions in the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, served in the economic policy secretariat of the Privy Council Office and with the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. Having completed his B.A. degree at the University of British Columbia and his Doctorate in Economics at Harvard, Dr. Curtis maintained teaching and research links with both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa while in government and is now a Visiting Professor at McGill University, Montreal, and at Queen's University, Kingston.