Sylvain Plasschaert is a member of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences since 1978. His career has been performed mainly as a full-time professor of economics at the University of Antwerp (UFSIA) since 1971, and already earlier, as a part-time one, at the University of Leuven, where he had studied Law, Economics (Ph.D.) and Philosophy (bachelor). Besides, he holds a Master degree of Harvard Law School, and spent an academic year at the University of Rome.

Previous to his academic career proper, he got involved in the eventful decolonisation episode of the Belgian Congo, as a member of the team of the last Belgian Ministers. Thereafter he acted as fiscal economist at the World Bank in Washington, and thereafter as a staff member of a Belgian commercial bank, dealing with the then nascent Euro-bond market.

He has been teaching courses in rather different areas, mainly on finance and international business. His research interests focused on ‘fiscal federalism, with special reference to Belgium; on ‘transfer pricing in multinational enterprises’ (two books in English); and perhaps most importantly on ‘the economic developments in China’ about which he initiated a course at Leuven University, wrote two books in his native Dutch, and taught at the business school set up in Beijing by the European Union.

During his academic career, he was a consultant, a dozen times, for the World Bank or other international institutions, on missions in the public finance field to developing countries, manly in Africa.

He was member of an expert group, 2000-01, assisting the EU Commission on a voluminous report on ‘company taxation in the single market’.

He has been co-opted as member of official consultative bodies in Belgium, viz. ‘the High Council of Finance’ (during 10 years), the ‘Central Economic Council’ and the ‘Regional Economic Council for Flanders’ (during 20 years).

Emeritus since 1994, he has remained fairly active, by way of cooperation with Brussels-based thinktanks, dealing with China/Asia or EU Affairs.