Building on the success of their initial academic partnership, the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) and Universitas Brawijaya (UB) have once again convened for the second installment of their International Economics Lecture Series. The second session, held on October 25, 2025, shifted the academic lens toward Indonesia. The lecture, “Navigating International Trade in the ASEAN Regions: The Case of the Indonesia,” led by Prof. Lina Asmara Wati from UB’s Department of Socio-Economy Fisheries and Marine, who provided a discussion on Indonesia’s strategic use of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and their effects on consumer and producer surplus, including examples from various countries.

The session was not just a policy briefing; it was a deep dive into the theoretical frameworks found in the students’ core curriculum, specifically referencing on the case study of lobster seed export restrictions. She explained how the Indonesian government implemented an export ban in 2018 to preserve lobster populations and promote domestic aquaculture, but later revised the policy in 2020 to allow limited exports under a comparative scheme.

Utilizing a hybrid model that connected 14 USeP Graduate students and 148 UB Undergraduate students via Zoom, the activity allowed for a “borderless” classroom environment while students remained onsite at their respective campuses. This relaunch of the lecture series reaffirms USeP’s commitment to its Strategic Plan 2022-2027, which prioritizes internationalization and world-class instructional delivery, ensuring that all course materials and recorded sessions remain accessible to students through the USeP Virtual Learning Environment (UVE).