Business 360 7: Jeju Forum for Peace

* This is my article for Business 360, a flashy business magazine in Kathmandu, Nepal, for their May 2013 issue. It is posted in EFN Asia today.
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Asian Peace and Security, the Jeju Forum

  

Attaining peace and economic prosperity for all people around the world is a dream that any institution in the planet, private or government, should aspire. They can disagree on how this can be done but the goal should be common to all.

And securing peace and prosperity in Asia is of utmost concern more than in any other regions or continents in the planet. Why?

Because Asia is inhabited by more than four billion people out of the planet’s seven billion total population. This list below does not include yet Asian countries in the Middle East and those in Central Asia, south of Europe. Also not included are small countries with population below 20 million, like Cambodia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

South and East Asian Countries Population, in Million, Estimates as of mid-2013

1. China 2. India 3. Indonesia 4. Pakistan 5. Bangladesh 6. Japan

1,357.4 1,257.0 248.7 207.4 154.4 127.2

7. Philippines  8. Vietnam   9. Thailand 10. Myanmar 11. S. Korea

98.0 89.7 67.4 62.3 50.4

12. Malaysia 13. Nepal 14. Afghanistan 15. N. Korea 16. Taiwan 17. Sri Lanka

30.5 27.2 25.8 25.3 23.6 20.5

Source: en.wikipedia.org

The above 17 countries alone have a combined population of 3.873 billion people or more than half of the planet’s total population. So if we talk about economic prosperity, having economic development in these countries alone would greatly address global poverty and underdevelopment.

This coming May 29 to 31, 2013, the 8^th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity will be held in the small island-province of Jeju, South Korea. It is an ambitious international conference that aims to be another “hub” of government, business and civil society leaders worldwide exchanging ideas and strategies, similar to the World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos, Switzerland.

The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) will participate for the first time in this famous international conference. Our think tank, Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc. is among the members of EFN Asia. I will be attending this forum as rapporteur for a panel on “Economic Prosperity in Asia: Dealing with Economic Nationalism” that EFN will sponsor and organize.

There are many panel discussions to be packed in the two and a half days conference. So in most cases, there will be five different panel discussions that will happen simultaneously in five different rooms.

And there will be plenty of topics on business and economic development. Among these are:

·         Asia-Pacific Development and the Future of Korean ODA

·         East Asian Regional Integration with ASEAN as the Driving Force.

·         Economic Prosperity in Asia: Dealing with Economic Nationalism

·         Unraveling the Dynamism of the Asian Economy: Patterns of Cooperation and Conflict in Trade, Finance, and FDI. 

·         Long-term Coexistence of Corporation and Society

·         Energy Security Cooperation in North East Asia for Sustainable Growth

·         Business Next Paradigm and Asia’s Future

·         The New Paradigm of the Capital Market I

·         Asia’s Solidarity Cooperation and New Business, New Technology

·         The New Paradigm of the Capital Market II

EFN Asia’s panel is perhaps the most interesting among these economic topics. These days, economic uncertainties and financial turmoil are happening in some countries or bloc of countries simultaneous with economic recovery and stability in other countries. In period of uncertainties, many governments tend to become more protectionist, like restricting imports to protect local jobs, and imposing capital controls and foreign exchange outflows.

These policies tend to create more harm than good. If local jobs and businesses are made more productive by using cheaper and/or better quality imported raw materials, intermediate and capital goods, then import restriction will create more economic dislocation than it can save. Another negative effect is that economic protectionism and nationalism results in the loss of goodwill of other countries that have been its trade partner for many years.

The trend in Asia is towards more economic cooperation and integration, not protectionism and isolationism. Among the various forms of such cooperation and  partnership in our continent are: (1) Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), (2)  ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, S. Korea, (3) East Asia Summit (EAS), (4) China-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Cooperation; (5) Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), (g) South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation(SAARC), and (7) Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Central Asia.

The EAS is a forum for leaders not only from ASEAN + 3 but also from the US, Russia, Australia, and India. It is like a smaller version of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) minus Canada and countries in South America, Pacific side.

Countries in South Asia like Nepal and India can attain more economic prosperity by integrating their economies more with their neighbors in East Asia.

Prosperity and economic development can be attained faster by opening up to more foreign trade, investments, tourism and cultural exchange. Countries need to open up more, not less, to the regional and global economy. Learn from threats while seizing opportunities for more economic expansion and integration.

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See also:
Business 360 4: Brownouts and Power Deregulation, February 26, 2013
Business Bureaucracy 7: Penalizing Small Businesses, February 01, 2013 
Business 360 5: Reducing Construction and Electricity Bureaucracies, March 14, 2013 
Business 360 6: Peace and Prosperity in Asia, April 13, 2013

EFN Asia 16: Participation in Jeju Forum for Peace 2013

The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia will be participating in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2013 Conference this coming May 29-31, 2013, to be held at Haevichi Hotel and Resort Jeju, S. Korea. I think this will be the first time that the network  will join this big international conference held yearly in the southern island of Jeju. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) Korea Office is working with the EFN Asia Secretariat in Bangkok in the network's participation.

This forum was invented in 2001 meant for a regional dialogue to promote peace and prosperity in Asia, the Korean Peninsula in particular. Then it became successful in attracting more regional and international participants, it later became a big international conference held every two years, then made an annual event since 2011.

I have heard and read about this forum in some news reports in the past, but I did not pay much attention to it. I thought it is just an extension dialogue of the famous World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos, Switzerland.

Early this month, the Regional Programme Officer of FNF for Economic Freedom and Human Rights, Pett Jurapaiboon, invited me to be the rapporteur of one of the panels in the Jeju Forum, and that panel will feature important and known speakers within EFN Asia.  I immediately said Yes to Pett. Well, my batting average for all FNF invites, whether here in Manila or the regional office, has been 100 percent so far. I will be a rapporteur, not speaker, in a panel on Economic Prosperity in Asia : Dealing with Economic Nationalism, to be held in the afternoon of May 30. Thanks much, Pett. I am very excited to attend this big international conference.

My interest in joining this and other regional events like the EFN Asia annual conferences, is simple: learn more how we can achieve regional and global peace and prosperity. Peace and economic prosperity.

Enough of war, armed conflict and militarization of disputes that can be peacefully resolved through diplomacy and serious, honest dialogues. Enough of spending huge amount of taxpayers money to buy heavy instruments of war and destruction.

Enough of economic restrictions and prohibitions that create poverty. If people, rich and poor alike, want to start a food shop ala "carinderia" in the Philippines or a modest housing or big residential condo, so be it. Governments should not put too many regulations, restrictions and taxes for these useful human endeavor that create jobs and provide useful goods and services to the people.

So EFN Asia's chosen topic, dealing with economic nationalism, is timely and important. Economic nationalism and protectionism means only one thing: reduction of choices and options, reduction of human freedom, to choose products and services that can best serve their personal and enterprise needs and priorities. When national governments say to its people, "You cannot buy these goods from other countries at these prices. Better buy only from locally-made products, or buy the imported ones at high prices and limited quantity", that is limiting choice and freedom.

The same way, when national governments also declare to its citizens, "You cannot study or work abroad unless you comply with these requirements..." and list down a dozen prerequisites, taxes and fees to pay as if one is applying to be a criminal abroad, that too, is limiting choice and freedom. Some poor job applicants to work abroad become poorer as they sell some personal and family properties so they can pay those multiple fees and taxes, both to the government and the favored job placement agencies and corporations that were accredited by the government.

The topics in the 2 1/2 days forum are wide. To accommodate those different topics, four to five simultaneous discussions will be held. Here is the list of topics on the afternoon of Day 2, May 30.

I will be writing more updates about this forum in the coming weeks.
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See also:

EFN Asia 12: Day 1 of Conference 2012, November 07, 2012

EFN Asia 13: Welfare Populism and Poverty, November 13, 2012

EFN Asia 14: Conference 2012 Resolution on Populism, November 21, 2012, 

EFN Asia 15: Distortions of Welfare Populism,  January 17, 2013