This year’s conference, held on Oct 31 and Nov 1 at Cornell Tech in NYC, offered an exploration of how these dynamic economies are harnessing cutting-edge innovations and strategic transformations to redefine their paths to growth. Thank you to the 37 speakers, the attendees, and the sponsors. Watch the live streaming recording and save the date, November 7, 2025, for the Cornell EMI 2025 Annual Conference.

After a record-breaking in the 2024 Cornell EMI Corning Case Competition, with 705 participants forming 154 teams from 48 universities across 15 countries, the winners are:

• 1st Prize ($6,000), Vinception, VinUniversity (Vietnam)
• 2nd Prize ($3,000), OnsenTamaGO, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan)
• 3rd Prize ($1,000), Team RedBricks Solutions, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota (United States)

Congratulations!

The award recognizes outstanding alumni from SC Johnson School of Management with international careers in emerging markets. The goal of the award is to engage alumni with the EMI to benefit its mission and raise awareness of the long history of the SC Johnson School of Management contribution to global businesses; in 2022 the awardee was Paul Kavuma, MBA ’93, in 2023 the awardee was Heather Henyon, MBA ’03. Congratulations to Eduardo Padilla Silva, MBA ’81, former CEO of FEMSA in Mexico. Watch the panel on our YouTube.

Five finalists presented during the EMI Conference 2024. Thanks to Mark Mobius for his support Congratulations to the winner: iOptiCrane, from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ($10.000). Find more details at pitch.emiconference.com.

Congratulations to the 72 EMI Fellows class of 2024! The celebration hosted a keynote speech by Iván Duque, Former President of Colombia (2018-22), Geoff Lim, MBA ’00, Founder and Managing Partner of Aeterra Capital Partners, Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and Vishal Gaur, Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of the Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Best of luck for our alumni and please keep in touch.

Watch the EMI Fellows Graduation Celebration 2024

The Emerging Markets Institute hosted the PhD Research conference in Ithaca, on May 2– 4, 2024. 24 speakers from 18 universities all over the world joined Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Thanks to Andrew Foley for the support.

The Emerging Market Multinationals Report 2023 – Risks and Realignments, was launched at the EMI Conference 2023 in November 2023, and at the EMI Webinar Series on March 8, 2024. The report was written by Anne Miroux and Lourdes Casanova in collaboration with Lorenzo Pavone and Daniel Kefer (EmNet, OECD development Center); Momina Aijazuddin, Matthew Saal, and Meraj Husain (International Finance Corporation); Veneta Andonova, Juan Pablo Soto, and Juana García (Escuela de Administración at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia); César Rosales (Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain); Yuan Jia-Zheng, Patricia García-Duran, Carles Brasó Broggi, Paloma Fernández-Pérez (University of Barcelona in Spain); Fred Olayele (Economic Club of Africa Network in NY); Marcelo Kawabata (Emerging Markets Institute, Cornell University); and Georges Ugeux (Law School, Columbia University).

During the EMI conference 2023, EMI was recognized by the New York State Assembly as an ‘outstanding institution worthy of the esteem of both the Community and the Great State of New York’. This recognition would not have been possible without the hard work of the EMI team, EMI fellows, volunteers, alumni, EMI advisory council, colleagues and EMI’s networks. Thanks, Steven Raga, member of the NYS Assembly, who signed the recognition.

The inaugural EMI Distinguished Fellows will be awarded to Iván Duque, Former President of Colombia (2018-2022). The program aims to recognize excellence and foster meaningful engagement between students, academia and leaders from emerging markets. Congratulations to Iván Duque!

The past academic year has been eventful for EMI: 73 fellows graduated last May, an annual conference and numerous seminars, published the 6th annual report, and so much more! Join EMI in reflecting back on the past year’s events and achievements by reading the 2022-2023 Year in Review!

The Emerging Markets Global Players (EMGP), previously under Columbia University, is joining EMI network and management. EMGP‘s website is in the process of reactivation and all the great research and reports produced by the team will be made available soon. The EMGP research group and its Fellows have resumed meeting and will be included in EMI’s activities, going forward. A special thank you to Lisa Sachs, Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

EMI is  proud to announce that its newly released book “Innovation from Emerging Markets: From Copycats to Leaders” is now available to buy from Cambridge University Press and Amazon in hardback and ebook format. This book aims to examine innovation and the leadership of noteworthy EMs countries and EMNCs. Thanks to the Emerging Multinationals Network, the joint efforts of various institutions around the world, comprised in this book.

EMI is grateful to Gail and Roberto Cañizares ’71, MBA ’74 for their $1.8 million gifit to EMI. The gift will establish the Emerging Markets Institute Case Writing Program pilot fund and the Cañizares Award for Distinguished Alumni in International Business and Emerging Markets. Read more about their generous gift!

Research takes a first-of-its-kind look at the fundamental risks associated in investing in emerging foreign markets