Plamen Tonchev to Speak on ‘Chinese Investments in Greece: Lessons for South Asia’ at LKI

November 20, 2018    Reading Time: 2 minutes

Reading Time: 2 min read

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Seating is limited and by invitation. To register your interest, please email your name and affiliated organisation to programmes@lki.lk

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Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI) will host a Foreign Policy Round Table entitled ‘Chinese Investments in Greece: Lessons for South Asia,’ with Plamen Tonchev, Head of the Asia Unit at the Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), in Athens, Greece.

The round table will be held on Friday, 23 November 2018, from 12.30 – 1.30 PM at LKI. It will feature a presentation by Mr. Tonchev on Chinese Investments in Europe and Greece and the for Sri Lanka. This will be followed by an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Mr. Tonchev holds an MA degree in International Relations from the University of Athens, Greece. In 1996-7 he was the Coordinator of the Centre for Japanese and East Asia Studies at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Since 1998, he has been a Senior Researcher and Head of Asia Unit at the Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER), Greece. He has published two books to date: “Japan: Issues and Perspectives” (co-edited, Sakkoulas Publications) and “Pakistan: Quran and Sword” (La Catarata, in Spanish), as well as papers in academic journals on political/economic co-operation between Europe and Asia.

Mr. Tonchev’s involvement with Chinese studies dates back to 1998, when he co-authored the IIER monograph “China in East Asia: From Isolation to a Regional Superpower Status.” In 2017, Mr. Tonchev co-authored a major IIER report on “Chinese Investment in Greece and the Big Picture of Sino-Greek Relations.” The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) has published his papers “China’s Road: Into the Western Balkans” (2017) and “Along the Road – Sri Lanka’s Tale of Two Ports” (2018). In 2018, Mr. Tonchev led an IIER research team that produced the report “China’s Image in Greece: 2008-2018.”

As an IIER representative, Mr. Tonchev is a founding member of the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) and has contributed to four annual reports to date. He has given lectures at universities, think tanks and other institutions in a number of European and Asian countries, including the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) in Singapore. Mr. Tonchev is a member of the EU Chapter of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (EU CSCAP) committee. He has also taken part in a number of EU missions to Asia related to development assistance in the area of governance.