USM PENANG, 23 August 2023 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) recently held the 5th USM-International Conference on Social Sciences 2023 (USM-ICOSS), organised by the USM School of Social Sciences.

The theme of the conference "Embracing Changes Towards Sustainable Communities" is very timely, in reflecting on the challenges and changes the world is currently facing. However, like all of life's challenges, they do come with opportunities to learn and grow.

Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Prof. Dr. Mohamad Shaharuddin Samsurijan, representing the USM Vice-Chancellor, in his opening remark said it will be interesting to listen to how social scientists across a broad discipline can discuss ideas and solutions on how humans can effectively create a sustainable community, as the world faces this complex and wide-reaching post-pandemic.

“I am happy to see a broad range of disciplines such as economics, political science, psychology, social work, development planning, anthropology and sociology, all captured as key sub­themes in this 5th USM-ICOSS.

“As such, I am confident that the breadth and depth of intellectual discourse that will unfold in these two days will provide priceless insights to each one of us here today,” he said.

This conference provides an ideal platform to establish linkages, networks and collaborative partnerships amongst scholars, academicians, researchers and practitioners alike, through either online platform or face-to-face in-person meeting.

Meanwhile, Professor of Faculty of International Social Sciences from Gakushuin University, Japan and Conference Keynote Speaker, Professor Dr. Tomohiko Inui, said that the outlook for economic growth has become increasingly uncertain and volatile in Asia, and productivity analysis has never been more critical than it is now, with a particularly stagnant economy in the past two decades in Japan.

“Employing the growth accounting method, we decompose Japan’s economic growth rate by input factor and the total factor productivity (TFP), which shows that the contribution of capital input is particularly weak, with little improvement in the quality of capital,” Tomohiko Inui said in his keynote address entitled ‘Revisiting productivity growth in the era of global change.’

Also present were Deputy Dean of Research, Innovation and Industry-Community Engagement, USM School of Social Sciences, Professor Dr. Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh who is also the 5^th USM-ICOSS 2023 Chairperson; Deputy Dean of Academic, Career and International, USM School of Social Sciences, Dr. Abdul Rais Abdul Latiff; invited speakers and participants.

Text: Siti Fatimah Abu Mansor/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin