On November 8 – 13, 2010 Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) and Guangxi Institute of Public Administration hosted joint CAG-IASIA-IIAS-NISPAcee-ASPA International Symposium on "Governmental Response to the Global Financial Crisis”.  This was the first time when four presidents and members of the associations – International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), American Society for Public administration (ASPA) and Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) came together to discuss a global problem that causes serious interest worldwide, share with experiences, accumulated within each organization, talk  about ways of closer collaboration and cooperation with each other.

Mr. He Jiacheng, Vice President of CAG and Mr. Li Yanming, Vice President of Guangxi Institute of Public Administration and their faculties and staff showed kind attention and generous hospitality during the whole symposium. All participants were extremely impressed and pleased by the excellent organization of the event.

Presentations covered the following topics: the impact of the global economic crisis on public administration and response of public administration to the global crisis, how public administration changed in the light of new economic realities and how these changes are reflected on the public administration educational programs. 
Special sessions were devoted to the role of standards of excellence in promoting excellent public administration education and training and challenges of accreditation of public administration programs.
Representatives of CAG and all four associations presented papers.
From NISPAcee Prof. Wolfgang Drechsler from Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) delivered a keynote presentation: Public Administration in Times of Crisis: Back to the Future?
Prof. Stanka Setnikar-Cankar from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) presented The Role of Standards of Excellence in Promoting Excellent Public Administration Education and Training. 
Prof. Juraj Nemec from Matej Bel University (Slovakia) made a presentation Step II: Public Finance Crisis and Possible Solutions.
Prof. Jacek Czaputowicz from the National School of Public Administration (Poland) talked about the Challenges for Civil Servants Training.
Prof. Laszlo Vass, Budapest College of Communication and Business (Hungary) chaired a session on Governmental Response to the Global Financial Crisis.
Mzia Mikeladze, NISPAcee President, delivered a welcome and closing speeches.

In the end of the Symposium open discussion was held about the collaboration between four associations of public administration. Discussion was chaired by Prof. Valeria Termini, IASIA President, Mr. Rolet Loretan, IIAS Director General, Prof. Meredith Newman, ASPA President and Prof. Mzia Mikeladze, NISPAcee President. Ludmila Gajdosova, Executive Director of NISPAcee and all NISPAcee representatives participated in the discussion.
This discussion showed that all four associations are ready to closer collaborate with each other and support joint activities.
M. Mikeladze and L. Gajdosova had a separate meeting with Prof. Newman with the intention to identify common interests of NISPAcee and ASPA, areas of joint actions, projects and possibilities to formalize our relationship. We agreed that major direction of common projects will be applied research in public administration/public policy.

Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between these two associations in spring 2010.