"The Global Voices scholarship has provided me with an incredible insight to global trade relations and Australia’s strategic place in the world," says UNSW Business School student Sophie Levy, who has been awarded the Co-op Global Policy Scholarship for 2017.

A final year B. Commerce (Co-op) Accounting & Business Management scholar, she has secured her place in a delegation of leading university students from across Australia, to attend the OECD Forum in Paris in June with Global Voices.

"As well as attending the OECD forum, my Global Voices experience includes the production of a policy paper," says Sophie Levy, who will present her research proposal ‘Exploring the benefits and risks of Public Private Partnerships for emerging economies and private investors’.

"My research explores the benefits and risks of Public Private Partnerships for infrastructure investment in emerging countries," she says. “Through discussions with various respected diplomats and politicians in Canberra, I have been exposed to new perspectives on the impacts of recent global changes on Australia’s trade relations and foreign policies."

Sophie Levy has recently returned from a pre-departure briefing in Canberra where she met with Australian government leaders, including current Ministers & Shadow Ministers, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) officers and members of the Australia Strategic Policy Institute, before jetting off to join the delegation to the OECD Forum in Paris next month.

She adds; "I can't wait for the next part of the Global Voices experience and look forward to sharing my thoughts, learnings and experiences."

The Accounting & Business Management Coop Program Co-ordinator, Diane Mayorga, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Accounting at the UNSW Business School said “she is a scholar of considerable personal integrity and an exceptional student who consistently shows integrity, diligence and determination in her academic, industry training placements and extracurricular activities. In short, she is an exemplary role model for the Coop students as well as to other students at UNSW."

A wrap up of the Canberra chapter is featured on the Global Voices website.

For further comment call Michelle Morris on 02 9385 5219, or michelle.morris@unsw.edu.au.

Media contact: Julian Lorkin: 02 9385 9887 | 0405 805 365 | j.lorkin@unsw.edu.au