Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure and honor that I have taken on my term as President of EIBA. Our academy has undergone considerable changes over the last few years. In particular, the initiation of International Business Review as the official journal of EIBA, the re-organization of the EIBA Board and Secretariat, and an increased emphasis on academic excellence in the organization of our Annual Conferences have all been successful initiatives. These features have contributed to a substantial increase in the number of members of our academy. In 2005, while emphasis will be put on securing the results achieved so far, new initiatives have also been taken. Principally, a new series entitled Progress in International Business Research will be published by Elsevier Science. Ulf Andersson and Torben Pedersen have been appointed as Editors and their intention is create a high-quality research outlet. The volumes in this new series will publish selected contributions presented at EIBA’s Annual Conferences, commencing with the 2005 conference.

This year’s Annual Conference will be held in Oslo, December 11 to 13, preceded as usual by the EIBA Doctoral Tutorial on December 10 and 11. The conference opens with a keynote panel on the theme of “Research Programs in International Business”. Henrich R. Greve has a key role in organizing the panel and I’m very pleased to announce that three prominent scholars will take part: Witold J. Henisz, Jean-Francois Hennart and Anand Swaminathan. The closing EIBA Fellows panel is organized by John Cantwell and John Hagedoorn, and they will together with Jan Fagerberg, Knut Haanæs, and Franscesca Sanna-Randaccio present their views on ”Internationalization of R&D and the Location of Asset Seeking Foreign Direct Investment”.

In between these two panels we will be looking forward to take part in what I trust will be numerous exciting sessions about the latest research in International Business. We have received more than 250 paper submissions, one of the highest figures ever for the EIBA conference. We have also received a number of very interesting proposals for panel sessions. For information about the conference, please visit the conference web page at www.eiba2005.bi.no. The conference web site is updated on a frequent basis.

With your help, we aim to organize the best ever EIBA Conference both academically and socially. The conference will be held at the new campus of BI Norwegian School of Management. The main conference hotel, Radisson SAS Hotel Nydalen, is just across the street. This is central location with most of Oslo’s many attractions conveniently within reach. Transportation to the conference venue is speedy and efficient with the metro and buses stopping straight in front of the conference venue.

Looking forward to seeing you in Oslo, I remain with

Very Best Regards

Gabriel R.G. Benito
Professor, EIBA President 2005