Yuma Osaki (大﨑祐馬) is a political economist in the making. He is a student of International Relations and International Political Economy (IR/IPE), working on Asian economic diplomacy. His research explores international trade governance and the evolution of the global trading system, with a focus on the advent of regional economic integration (REI) arrangements in Asia, such as the TPP and the RCEP. His MA/LLM dissertation - “The Regional Trade Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific: A Comparative Analysis of South Korea, Japan, and China’s Making Free Trade Agreement with Australia” examined the interplay between bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and REI initiatives in a multi-layered trade system, through the case studies of Northeast Asian FTAs/EPA with Australia - the so-called “FTA Trifecta”.
In 2016, he left Kyoto and landed in Canberra for the first time to take part in the inaugural National Parliamentary Fellowships Program before commencing his dual-degree program in Sheffield, UK. Organised by the ANU and Japan Center for International Exchange, this inter-governmental research exchange program involved a two-month stint at the Australian Parliament House. In 2019, he joined the Australia-Japan Youth Dialogue (AJYD) as an Organising Committee Member. He also works for a research branch on Geoeconomics of the Japan Forum on International Relations.

*He is currently Offshore (not currently in Australia) due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions.