The Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium (APFRS) is privileged to announce that Dr. Paul Chiu, Vice Premier of the Republic of China, has accepted the position of honorary chairman effective when the 2009 APFRS returns to Taiwan on March 2 and 3 at the Grand Hyatt, Taipei.

Building on APFRS’s growing success since Taiwan initially hosted the symposium in 1985, more than 100 select invitees representing elite financial institutions, exchanges, corporations, government agencies and universities from around the world will once again convene in Taiwan for the event.

The annual symposium is one of the most respected derivatives research conferences in the world, having begun when the Chicago Board of Trade hosted its first Asian market symposium in Hong Kong in 1991. Today, the symposium is organized by the Center for Financial Engineering at Kent State University, home to a financial engineering program ranked 13^th in North America by GlobalDerivatives.com.  

“We are very privileged that Vice Premier Dr. Paul Chiu, a distinguished leader in the Republic of China and in the field of finance, has agreed to serve as the 2009 honorary chairman,” says Robert Frank, Kent State’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. “The symposium’s mission to promote and foster the advancement of financial engineering in the Asia-Pacific realm is only furthered by Dr. Chui’s involvement with APFRS. The Vice Premier brings a wealth of experience and a lengthy resume of lasting contributions to global financial engineering.”

Dr. Chui began his career in the 1970s with the Central Bank of the Republic of China, becoming the director general in 1981 and then deputy governor in 1988. Dr. Chui gained national recognition in 1996 when he was named minister of finance of the Republic of China, and then in 2008 was appointed Vice Premier. 

"It's a privilege to serve as the 2009 honorary chairman,” Chiu says. “The APFRS is a world-class symposium that brings together renowned scholars and practitioners to share and discuss the latest concepts and research data in derivatives and risk management.”

The APFRS presents state-of-the-art research by distinguished presenters, with original, peer reviewed papers and a panel session. In addition, the keynote speakers for 2009 will be Dr. Sheng-Cheng Hu, former chairperson-minister of the financial supervisory commission of the Republic of China and of the Kamakura Corporation founder Donald R. van Deventer, chairman and chief executive officer.

 “The Center for Financial Engineering has been honored to co-host the APFRS since 2002 with the CBOT Foundation,” says Dr. Mark Holder, director of Kent State University’s Financial Engineering Program and chairman of the department of finance. “Kent State has a long history of international partnerships and this symposium is a prime example of our commitment to take the university’s excellence beyond our campus to a global stage.”

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Media Contact: Michelle Parrish, Kent State University, Center for Financial Engineering, 330-672-2717