Dr Marié-Luce Kühn

Extraordinary research scientist in the TRADE research focus area

Marié-Luce Kühn is a founder and director of research company, IBIS Business and Information Services. She obtained her BA and BA (Hons) degrees from Stellenbosch University and completed her Master's and PhD at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus). In addition to obtaining her Master's cum laude, Dr Kühn was awarded the Absa Bronze Medal for Best Master's Dissertation in the Humanities. Her PhD (International Trade) focused on the information requirements of South African exporters, an area in which she has a keen interest.

Dr Kühn has impressive research experience. She has numerous published articles to her credit, has contributed chapters to books and has presented a number of papers at international conferences. She has also participated in NRF-funded international research projects covering various export-related themes. She is actively involved in developing competitive intelligence capabilities in companies, and also undertakes research assignments under commission from different organisations.

Some of Dr Kühn’s other academic pursuits include acting as an external examiner and a study leader for postgraduate students.

Ms Ali Parry

Ali Parry is the director of Trade Matters (Pty) Ltd, a company providing research, consulting and writing/editing services, with a special focus on economic development and international trade. Previously, she was an executive director of the International Trade Institute of Southern Africa (ITRISA). Ali has impressive research credentials, and has participated in numerous projects aimed at building the knowledge and expertise of international trade policymakers and practitioners in South Africa.

Ali has had a long association with the North-West University – serving as a developer of courseware for several International trade-related disciplines for the School of Economics, and as an editor of accredited research articles and co-author of various research reports and strategy documents under the TRADE banner. Ali holds a BA degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is also an external moderator for the NWU School of Economics and is a full member of the Professional Editors' Guild.

Prof Riaan Rossouw

Riaan Rossouw is a micro-economist with more than ten years' consulting, research and teaching experience. As an extraordinary associate professor in the School of Economics at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), he has wide-ranging knowledge in most economic sectors, as well as economic development as a whole.  Prof Rossouw is part of the technical and programming team of the TRADE-DSM® (Decision Support Model) and developed the DSM Dashboard. 

Prof Rossouw’s research interests include social and economic dimensions of inequality and applied/computable general equilibrium modelling, particularly as applied in the African (and South African) context. Special focus areas are regional disparities, labour markets, fiscal reform, tourism, energy policy, decision support systems, development planning and international trade.

Prof Rossouw has carried out consultancy work for various industries (both local and international), from governmental departments, financial institutions and private manufacturing concerns, through to real economy institutions such as mining houses, freight transport companies and utility providers. He has much field experience in southern Africa, and has taught both students and development practitioners.

Prof Peet Strydom

Peet Strydom is an extraordinary professor at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus). He studied at the North-West University in Potchefstroom, the Free University in Amsterdam and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, with his main focus areas being Economics, Mathematics and Statistics.

Prof Strydom has made a substantial contribution to international trade-related research, examining classical and neo-classical trade theories within a developed and emerging market context.  He has paid particular attention to the role of human capital and outsourcing in trade patterns around the world, while accommodating economic growth in an open economy framework.

Prof Strydom is well known in the private sector, having held the positions of senior economist at Central Merchant Bank and chief economist at Sankorp Limited in Johannesburg.  He has published extensively in esteemed journals on macroeconomics and international economics and co-authored several books. He is an honorary member of the Economic Society of South Africa.

Prof Raymond Parsons

Raymond Parsons is a professor at the North-West University School of Business and Governance and an extraordinary professor in the TRADE research focus area.  He studied economics at the Universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Copenhagen, and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) where he is also an honorary professor and member of the University Council.

Prof Parsons is a recognised authority on the South African economy and its implications for business, and has played a leading role in organised business for many years.  He is also a key contributor to public and academic debate on a broad spectrum of issues that help shape South Africa's economic and political character. Until recently, Prof Parsons was the deputy CEO of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and remains a special policy advisor to that organisation.  He was also the overall national convenor at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) until 2010, and is a past director-general of the South African Chamber of Business (SACOB).  In 2004, former President Thabo Mbeki appointed Prof Parsons to the board of directors of the SA Reserve Bank and he was reappointed to this position in 2008.

Prof Parsons is the author/editor of five books, including the 2013 release 'Zumanomics Revisited: from Mangaung to 2030', and also a co-developer of the NWU Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) which is published quarterly. 

Prof Ludo Cuyvers

Ludo Cuyvers is an extraordinary professor at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) and emeritus professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He has published widely in international peer-reviewed journals on international trade, export promotion, Asian economic development and the social impact of globalisation.

Prof Cuyvers has authored several books and seminal papers on international economics and export promotion.  He developed the Decision Support Model (DSM), which he originally applied to Belgium's and Thailand’s export situation. Together with Prof Wilma Viviers, he has been involved in comparative research on competitive intelligence and on the identification of South African export opportunities using the DSM.

Prof Cuyvers is a member of the Board of Directors of Flanders Investment and Trade, the Flemish export promotion agency in Belgium. He is also chairman of the European Institute for Asian Studies, a Brussels-based think tank, and member of the Council of Fellows, East Asian Economic Association.  He has received several prizes and awards in Belgium and abroad for his contribution to the fields of international economics and trade.

Dr Clive Coetzee

Dr Clive Coetzee is an extraordinary research scientist in the TRADE research focus area at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) and the Chief Director Infrastructure Management and Economic Services at Provincial Treasury in KwaZulu Natal. He completed his Master's degree in Economics at the Faculty of Military Science of the University of Stellenbosch in 2000 and his PhD in Economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2012 on the topic: 'A Research approach to keeping informed of and monitoring local economic conditions: a Kwazulu-Natal case study'. 

Clive has over 15 years of experience in economic consultancy, having run his own business, Clive Coetzee Financial Services, from 2001 to 2017. He has also been involved in teaching Economics at university level since 1999, having lectured at the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Cape Town and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.