Regional Cooperation for the Sustainable Development and Management in Northeast Asia

Abstract

Abstract:The Northeast Asian countries are the most pro-active regions in the world to take on the challenges of sustainable development. With this background, there has been an annual series of Sustainable Asia Conferences (SAC) which date back to the first inaugural meeting in 2009. This special issue consists of selected papers from the SAC 2017, held in Nanjing, China, from 23-25 June. With ten years of accumulated experience, SAC became one of the leading international conferences for presenting innovative or fundamental advances in sustainable development issues for Asia. Over time, SAC introduced more performance-oriented approaches to handle the feasibility of the sustainable development solutions. In this special issue, most of the papers focused on the precise and accurate sustainable governance mechanism in harmonizing economic development with a healthier life, while enhancing the quality of all standards of living. The majority of papers in this special issue also deal with two important pillars of the sustainable development: regional cooperation and regulatory effectiveness. This special edition will propose unique implications and feasible or workable suggestions against global warming and environmental degradation.

Optimal Transition toward Innovation-led Sustainable Governance under the 2020 Paris Regime

“…Different from the top-down approach in the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris regime is based on the bottom-up, voluntary partnership approach to reducing CO 2 emissions. This implies that all governments should work with private companies and public citizens for better public-private partnerships (PPP) because sustainable development should be based on the harmonization of all interest groups for the eventual creation of shared values [2,10]. Without the support of the people and private industries, the government-led economies in the Northeast Asian countries cannot be successful in achieving a smooth transition toward sustainable development.…”

“…First, sustainable development cannot be achieved by the traditional competition-based or efficiency-oriented economy, but by the value creation based on network management [10]. Therefore, all the research papers should specifically explain how to enlarge the size of the pie, instead of how to maximize any individual portion.…”

Sustainable Governance on the Intention of Medical Tourism in Uzbekistan

“…This result implies that the local healthcare system and supporting policy measures lack sustainable governance. Here, governance is defined as the workable mechanism for sustainable performance [5]. It could be a negative signal for the Uzbekistani medical industry because it loses competitiveness, resulting in a continuous outflow of foreign currency.…”

Challenges of Asian Models and Values for Sustainable Development

“…Unfortunately, sustainable development requires proactive participation by the public and private sectors in diverse fields of activity, due to the complicated and complex procedures necessary to achieve better performance. Northeast Asian countries are in a transition period going from quantitative economic development toward a qualitative, healthier advanced economy; thus, strong leadership by governments is demanded by the private sector [2].…”

“…However, this could not be repeated due to the current lack of governance, resulting from the lack of private participation. Here, governance is defined as the workable mechanism for sustainable performance [2]. The leadership of the government in northeast Asian countries is so important to initiate new challenges for the future; however, for good governance, it government leadership needs to be harmonized with PPPs based on the relevant cultural background [1].…”