Asian free market websites, Part 4

(I originally posted this early morning July 12. My updates for today, below)

How popular are the free market think tanks and institutes in Asia, at least online?

I checked alexa.com four years ago to answer that question. Today, out of curiosity, I checked again alexa.com and here is what I discovered. Shown are their global ranking -- out of several hundred million sites and blogs in the planet.

1. Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), Seoul, headed by Dr. Tae-shin Kwon, represented by Dr. Choi Byung Il in various EFN Asia conferences.
2. Unirule Institute of Economics, Beijing, headed by Dr. Mao Yushi; often represented by Dr. Feng Xingyuan in various EFN Asia conferences.
3. Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) Institute, Islamabad, headed by Ali Salman
4. Freedom Institute , Jakarta, headed by Dr. Luthfi Assyaukanie, among others.
5. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), headed by Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
6. Suara Kebebasan, Jakarta. Not exactly a think tank but a website for freedom, headed by Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar.
7. Samriddhi The Prosperity Foundation, Kathmandu, headed by Robin Sitoula.
8. Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc./Funwithgovernment blog, Manila, headed by yours truly.
9. Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.

The numbers in green are the increase in global rank over the past three months. In red are decrease in global rank over the same period. Notice the huge jump of these think tanks below in a short period of time.

10. Doimoi.org, Hanoi, is a think tank that translates some important classical liberal books and literatures into Vietnamese, headed by Cong Minh Nguyen.
11. In defence of liberty is another project of Liberty Institute, Delhi, headed by Barun Mitra.
12. Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR), Tokyo, headed by Masaru Uchiyama or Mr. You.
13. Center for Civil Society (CCS) Delhi, headed by Dr. Parth Shah.
14. Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), Manila, headed by Calixto "Toti" Chikiamco.
15. Alternate Solutions (AS) Institute, Lahore, headed by Dr. Khalil Ahmad.
16. Lion Rock Institute (LRI), Hong Kong, headed by Bill Stacey.
17. Akademi Merdeka, Jakarta, is another project I think, of Freedom Institute.

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) is not a think tank, it is a German political foundation, that supports many Asian free market think tanks, mainly through the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia, based in Bangkok. I just added here the website of FNF Philippine Office, headed by Jules Maaten.

Compared to US free market think tanks, institutes and foundations -- like Cato, ATR, Atlas, Heritage, AEI, Reason, etc. -- we from Asia have a lot more to learn and expand.

UPDATE, July 19:

I am expanding the list of Asian free market think tanks and institutes from 17 to 23 and checked their global ranking via alexa.com today. The six institutes added are:

1. IPencil Economic Research Institute, Beijing,
2. India Institute, Delhi,
3. Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law (SIFL), Shanghai, headed by Fu Weigang,
4. Open Radio for North Korea, Seoul,
5. Asia Center for Enterprise (ACE), Delhi, headed by Baishali Bomjan,
6. Teach North Korean Refugees, Seoul, headed by Casey Lartigue.

In terms of online popularity, here's the ranking as of today.

1. keri.org, Seoul

2. impencil.org, Beijing

3. unirule.org.cn, Beijing

4. primeinstitute.org, Islamabad
5. indiai.org, Delhi
6. suarakebebasan.org, Jakarta

7. ideas.org.my, Kuala Lumpur

8. freedom-institute.org, Jakarta

9. funwithgovernment.blogspot.com, Manila

10. samriddhi.org, Kathmandu

11. nkradio.org, Seoul
12. sifl.org.cn, Shanghai
13. acenetwork.asia, Delhi

14. libertyindia.org, Delhi

15. ccsindia.org, Delhi

16. indefenceofliberty.org, Delhi

17. doimoi.org, Hanoi
18. jtr.gr.jp, Tokyo

19. fef.org.ph, Manila
20. lionrockinstitute.org, HK

21. asinstitute.org, Lahore

22. akademimerdeka.org, Jakarta

23. teachnorthkoreanrefugees.org, Seoul.

Will update in the coming days.
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See also: 
Asian free market websites, part 2, April 25, 2011 
Asian free market websites, part 3, May 10, 2011 
EFN Asia 31. Friends in the Asian Free Market Movement, November 07, 2013

Nepal 6: Nepal Government Wants to Monopolize All Donations

One ugly characteristic of many governments is their tendency to centralize many things, consistent with their central planning thinking. Like centralizing even private money and donations meant for victims of  natural calamities. Recent example is the Nepal  government.

I am reposting these fb status updates from a friend, Arpita Nepal, Director at Samriddhi Prosperity Foundation in Kathmandu.
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April 30, 2015

Dear well wishers, our 'esteemed government' wants to channel all possible resources only through them! So if you are planning to send any contribution to Nepal, yesterday the Ministerial Cabinet decided that all funds collected will be directed via the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. Please read the Press release of the Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Nepal. If you have already started fund-raising initiatives on your own, please note that you are now require to get approval of the District Administration Office of the respective district and from the Nepalese embassy or Consulate Office if you are abroad!!

(To show accountability) They will produce a daily report according to the press release. However, according to ground information from our volunteers, the only relief that they have received so far is from voluntary individuals and civil society orgnizations. Not from Government. People have been reached more by Army and Police in rescue efforts. We don't know what is the plan of action of the Government relief fund.

May 1, 2015

For those of you making a donation or collecting funds for Earthquake victims of Nepal, please be aware that there are two directives in place now which direct all money collected to the Prime Minister's Relief fund (to be channeled through the Government). The latest one apparently is by Nepal Rastra Bank. Here's a news link to the directive. Looking for authenticity. Will post the actual directive once I'm able to get it as well.

(An illustration belowposted by another friend, Samriddhi Executive Director, Robin Sitoula; also the husband of Arpita. Below it, three fb status by other individuals shared by Arpita) 

(1) From Anil Keshary Shah Nepali

The government of Nepal has decided that all funds donated and collected for earthquake relief has to be deposited in the Prime Minister's Relief Fund! The government has said that it has taken this step in order to ensure that individuals and institutions do not misuse the funds collected in the name of relief, and to streamline coordination to ensure the optimum utilization of funds! 

As a citizen of Nepal I would like to remind my government that by doing this they are now fully and solely responsible for every family that is without a roof over their head, every injured person who is not getting treatment, every family that does not have water or food, and every disease and epidemic that spreads from today! The citizens of Nepal and friends of the Nepali people across the world wanted to do their best to help in whatever manner they could. Thousands of youth were engaging themselves in taking assistance to their affected brothers and sisters, whether they be in the heart of the valley or the most remote of villages; However now with all funds being mandatorily diverted to the government they have no means of continuing their efforts! People across the world who were sending funds and materials to individuals or institutions that they had faith would get the needed relief to the affected people are also stepping back as they are unaware of what will happen to their contributions when it's put into such a big pool! 

But our government is our government and as citizens we must abide by our governments decision, but I humbly request our government to also remember we are the people who vote to put them in government and wish that they are able to fulfill this immense responsibility that they have taken, from the hands of their citizens who wanted to help, so that we will be able to use these idle hands to vote for them the next time round! For now every Nepali who has lost their home, their business, their loved ones, are sick, hungry and thirsty is solely and wholly the responsibility of the government! And I don't think your public will wait for very long watching our brothers and sisters suffer, every day is one day to many, and please don't tell us that the task is huge and will take time because you were the ones who told us you didn't need our help and would be better able to do it if we stepped aside and stopped trying to help! We are your citizens so we will abide by our governments decision, now please prove you are our government and deliver on the responsibility you've taken on!!! If you agree please SHARE to build a public consciousness on this critical issue!

(2) From Prasit Kandel‎ 

All the people who are providing rescue, medical service, shelter, food, water, sanitation plz if u are doing from ur inner heart then dont let you down due to one door system of government. Standard time for rescue is atleast 15 days. We can save many lifes. Dont follow the rules follow the situation. Rescue never follow political rules it should follow situation. If i am wrong i am sorry my government but i will not follow ur rules for atleast 15 days. You can arrest me for that.

And true volunteers my heroes be aware of people, association, organization who believe in publicity not in serving.

And i would like to thanks all the people, association, organization who are giving there best to serve the people.

(3) From Nishant Shrestha

Ok the BIG PROBLEM OF CUSTOMS IS SOLVED ::::: Now people can send the relief material and there will be no customs charged ! Here is how it needs to be done :

To send :

1. The one sending the relief material has to send it to a social organization it can be NGO , INGO or a registered community club.

2. Please have the name and address written or printed clearly.

To receive :

1. The receiving organization needs to be a social organization as states above.

2. The receiving organization needs to bring a letter in their stamped letter head stating the purpose of the relief material and where they will distribute it. They will also need to submit cargo list or packing list.

3. They need to declare the total worth of the relief item and sign a contract stating how and where it will be distributed.

4. After the distribution , the social organization needs to make a report of distribution and get it approved by the local governing body at the distributed area , can be police, army or any government authority. Nepal customs will then followup on the issue later with the local bodies and in case the local body will not be able to provide authentic letter , total custom of that consignment will be charged to the local social organization.

In case of any problem , we are at the airport , please get all documents ready and call..... my number is 00977 9801122000 and 009779851021000

ENJOY !

(New updates from Arpita)

Tent meant for distribution in Sindhupalchowk, Lalitpur and Upper Dhading just got seized by the Government en route from Birgunj - Their response - 'It is our job not yours!' - If the relief materials reaches the victims as soon as possible, we'd be very happy - doesn't matter who takes it there. But many supplies still lying at the airport tell a different story! Anyway, another day of trying to match efforts, and some successes. We'll still keep trying to help despite all adversities!

....

Finally, here's the Government's plan of action. If you want to distribute any kind of relief yourself or through your organization, this statement directs you to coordinate and take permission from the Central District and Local District Officers. Everyone involved in relief distribution, please take note.

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See also:
Nepal, Maoist Government and Samriddhi, Part 2, April 07, 2014 
Nepal 3: Banda/Strike and Forced Closure of Shops, Schools, Transportation, February 07, 2015
Nepal 4: Earthquake and Civil Society Initiatives, April 27, 2015 
Nepal 5: Building Quality, Construction Permits and Earthquake, April 28, 2015

ALF 3: Photos with Friends, Kathmandu Conference

More photos here during the 3rd Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) held at Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Kathmandu, Nepal, last January 8-10, 2015.

Charu Chadha of Media 9 in Kathmandu, publisher of Business 360 monthly magazine of which I am one of their columnists, sent me today our group photo. From left: Casey Lartigue of Freedom Factory Ltd. (Seoul, S. Korea), Charu, me, Cong Minh Nguyen (doimoi.org, Hanoi, Vietnam). Casey represented Dr. Chung-ho Kim, President of Freedom Factory, who was with us in the small  group roundtable discussion on "The Constitution of Liberty in Asia" held in Phuket, Thailand, October 2005.

Marc Abela, center, also posed with me and Minh, he represented Mr. You and Yoshida Hiroshi of the Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR) and Institute for Free Economy (IFE), respectively. Mr. You and Hiroshi were also with us in Phuket in 2005.

Another photo with Minh and Charu. Haaaaa, we were relieving the past. :-)

Ok, here's one of our group photos in Phuket in 2005. This was during the Economic Freedom  Network (EFN) Asia conference, a day after our roundtable discussion. From left: Simon Lee (Lion Rock Institute, Hong Kong), Mr. ____ (Association for Liberal Thinking, Turkey), Chung-ho Kim (then with Center for Free Enterprise, Seoul), Colleen Dyble (Atlas, USA), Mr. You (JTR, Japan), Charu, me, and Yoshida Hiroshi (IPSA, IFE, Japan).

Another photo. Leon Louw holding a camera (Free Market Institute, S. Africa) and Mohit Satyanand (Liberty Institute, India). That was nearly 10 years ago.

More photos during the 3rd ALF. From left: Peter Wong (LRI, Hong  Kong),  Jadranco Brkic (Bosnia), Randy Hencken (Seasteading.org), me. Randy discussed the concept of seasteading, people who want small and limited government wanting to create their own country on the sea, outside the political jurisdiction of any existing country although within the EEZ. It's a bright and revolutionary idea.

From left: me, Cindy Cirquetela (Atlas, USA), Linda Whetstone (Network for a Free Society, UK) and Xingyuan Feng (Unirule, CIPA, Beijing, China). Atlas and NFS, along with FNF South Asia regional office, provided lots of logistical and financial support for that conference.

From left: Bican Sahin (Freedom Research Association, Turkey), me, Gulmira Aidaralieva (Central Asian Free Market Institute/CAFMI, Kyrgyz Republic), _____ also of CAFMI, and Ruki Fernando (Human Rights activist, Sri Lanka).

The Executive Director of Samriddhi Prosperity Foundation, Robin Sitoula. Robin is a friend since about 7-8 years ago. Samriddhi  is the local host that co-sponsored with the Asia Center for Enterprise (ACE) in holding  the 3rd ALF. Great job, fantastic conference, Robin and Samriddhi guys. Congratulations once again.

On the 2nd night  of the conference, after the speeches and before dinner, there was a short song number, it was lively, I pushed Arpita Nepal (lady in white dress on the left), wife of Robin and Director for Research of Samriddhi, to a snake dance. Many participants followed and formed a long snake dance :-)  Man holding the microphone  was the  one  who  sang the  lively song.

Miscellaneous photos: with Wan Saiful Wan Jan (IDEAS, Malaysia) and Barun Mitra (Liberty Institute, India), Adinda Muchtar (Indonesia Institute, Jakarta) and Miho Mochizuki (JTR, Tokyo).

Many thanks again, ACE and Samriddhi, for that wonderful conference.

Special thanks to the following: (1) Media 9/Business 360 for sponsoring my plane fare, (2) ACE/Samriddhi for sponsoring  my 4 nights hotel accommodation, and (3) EFN Asia for sponsoring my related expenses (PH travel tax, Nepal visa fee, etc.).
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See also: 
Asian Liberty Forum 2015, Kathmandu, January 07, 2014 
ALF 2: Opening Dinner Program, January 09, 2015

ALF 2: Opening Dinner Program

The 3rd Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) officially began last night here in Kathmandu, Nepal, with an Opening Dinner program. Conference venue is Soaltee Crowne Plaza. Big crowd, 200+ people from many countries.

All photos here were posted in facebook and twitter by friends, none of them from my camera. 

Welcome remarks was given by Baishali Bomjon, head of the Asia Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and Atlas representative for Asia. Very articulate lady, she discussed the various  free market thinkers in Asia, from Lao Tzu to other recent  Asian leaders, as well  as a timeline of democratization and economic liberalization  in some Asian countries.

The Welcome to Nepal message was given  by Suraj Vaidya, Vice President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Board of Samriddhi, and Advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal’s Economic Group. He expressed gladness at the big turn  out of participants, as well as the challenges for Nepal to embrace market oriented reforms.

And the Keynote Address was given by Linda Whetstone, Chairman and CEO of Network for a Free Society, Board member of the Atlas Network, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Istanbul Network for Liberty. Her talk was on "Investing on the next generation  of Freedom Champions". She showed photos of activities by various free market think tanks in educating university students on the value of individual liberty, property rights, rule of law and market reforms. 

Linda is a fantastic lady, Not so young and yet so energetically active in spreading liberty and free market in many parts of the world.

The night's MC was Sarita Sapkota, the Communication and Development Coordinator at Samriddhi. Young, bright and very articulate, she navigated the program so well. A promising free market leader someday.

Dinner was great, my first exposure to  Nepalese food. 

A number of EFN Asia "regulars" were there too. I like this selfie (better yet, "groupie") photo from Wan Saiful's camera phone. From left: Wan (Malaysia), Wimonpug Promsrimas (Thailand), Peter Wong (Hong Kong), Pett Jarupaiboon (EFN-Asia Regional program manager, Thailand), Rainer Heufers (Germany), Barun Mitra (India), me.

Xingyuan Feng (China) was also there but he did not follow quick, so he was not in the photo. 

Earlier photo, when Wan was teaching Barun how to tweet again.

Ok, time to hit the sack and prepare for the conference proper later today.

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See also: 
Asian Liberty Forum 2015, Kathmandu, January 07, 2014
EFN Asia 43: Day 1 of Conference 2014, November 06, 2014
EFN Asia 44: Day 2 of Conference 2014, November 10, 2014

Asian Liberty Forum 2015, Kathmandu

The 3rd Asia Liberty Forum will be held this week in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is mainly sponsored by the Center for Civil Society (CCS) India and the Asia Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE), and is co-sponsored with  Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation (Nepal), FNF South Asia, and the Atlas Network (US).

Here is the program.

Day 1, January 08

6:30 pm  Welcome Address & Keynote Address

Introduction (Video) by Baishali Bomjan, Asia Centre for Enterprise

Welcome by Suraj Vaidya, Chairman, Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Opening Address by Linda Whetstone, 

Chairman and CEO, 

Network for a Free Society, UK

Dinner

Day 2, January 09

Speed Networking

Hosted by Deependra Chamlagain, Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Liberty in 2014

Welcome by Robin Sitoula, 

Executive Director, 

Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Address by Dr Ronald Meinardus, 

Regional Director, 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation South Asia, India

Freedom Champions in Asia: Reasons for Hope

Chair: Peter Goettler, Atlas Network, USA

Speakers:

Nouh El-Harmouzi, Arab Center for Scientific Research, Morocco

Cong Minh Nguyen, DoiMoi.org, Vietnam

H'ala Shakshir, Palestinian Centre for Peace and Democracy

Asoka Obeyesekera, Verité Research, Sri Lanka

Ulil Absar Abdalla, Freedom Institute, Indonesia

Casey Lartigue, Freedom Factory, South Korea

Elevator Pitch by Think Tank Start Up Training Graduates

25 graduates from the Think Tank Start-up Training will each deliver a one minute pitch to the audience. The winner, decided by audience voting will receive USD 500 prize money.

Hosted by Cindy Cerquitella,
Program Manager,

Atlas Leadership Academy, USA

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Fund Students, Not Schools: Education of Choice for all

Track A: Big Ideas

Chair: Gagan Thapa, Constituent Assembly, Nepal

Speakers:

James Tooley, Newcastle University, UK

Rohan Joshi, Centre for Civil Society, India

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, 

Chief Executive Officer,
Institute for Democracy & Economic Affairs, Malaysia

Madan Rai, Ashoka Fellow, Nepal

Ensuring a Policy Win: Strategies & tactics to engage with governments

Track B: Think Tank Leadership

Chair: Dr Ronald Meinardus, Regional Director, Friedrich Naumann Foundation South Asia

Speakers:

Md. Farhad Hossain, Information Commission of Bangladesh

Chakshu Roy, Parliamentary Research Services, India

Ali Salman, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy, Pakistan

Innovative products to replicate

Track C: Products & Tools

Chair: Judd Weiss, Weiss Investment, USA

Speakers:

Fred Fransen, Common Sense Economics, USA

Shefali Malhotra, 100 Laws Project, iJustice, India

Surath Giri, Onion Films, Nepal

Kelly Dhru, Lawtoons, Research Foundation for Governance in India

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Free market environmentalism

Track A: Big Ideas

Chair: Dalibor Rohac, Cato Institute, USA

Speakers:

Anil Chitrakar, Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Barun Mitra, 

Founder and Director,

Liberty Institute, India

Rainer Heufers, Siap Solutions Inc, Singapore

Effective Board Management for greater outreach

Track B: Think Tank Leadership

Chair: Dan Grossman, 

Chairman of the Board, 

Atlas Network, USA

Speakers:

Linda Whetstone, Network for a Free Society, UK

Bridgett Wagner, 

Director of Coalition Relations, 

Heritage Foundation, USA

Luis Miranda, Centre for Civil Society, India

Measuring Institutional Performance

Track C: Products & Tools

Chair: Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, 

President, 

Institute of Future Studies for Development, Thailand

Speakers:

Lorenzo Montanari, 

Executive Director, 

Property Rights Alliance, USA

Sumita Kale, Indicus Analytics, India

Zilvinas Silenas, Lituanian Free Market Institute

Robert Alt, Buckeye Institute, USA

Remembering the lost heroes of Liberty

A tribute to the great champions of Liberty we’ve lost this past year and a toast to continuing their legacy.

Hosted by Rainer Heufers, 

Founder and Managing Director, 

Siap Solutions Inc, Singapore

Expressing ideas for a Free Society; a Creative Competition – Awards Ceremony

Hosted by Sarita Sapkota, Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Dinner

Day 3, January 10

The next big idea: Alternatives to current governments

Speaker: Randolph Hencken, The Seasteading Institute, USA

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Open borders & Free trade: migration & trade policies in Asia

Track A: Big Ideas

Chair: Suraj Vaidya, SAARC, Nepal

Speakers:

Ken Schoolland, 

President, 

International Society for Individual Liberty, USA

Cris Lingle, Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala

Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, Institute of Future Studies for Development, Thailand

Raising money for Liberty: How, What & Whom

Track B: Think Tank Leadership

Chair: Daniel Green, Templeton Foundation, USA

Speakers:

Robin Sitoula, Samriddhi, Nepal

Peter Wong, 

Executive Director, 

Lion Rock Institute, Hong Kong

Gulmira Aidaralieva, Central Asian Free Market Institute, Kyrgyz Republic

Evidence-based policy

Track C: Products & Tools

Chair: Tom Palmer, 

Vice President for Intl. Programs, 

Atlas Network, USA

Speakers:

Baladevan Rangaraju, India Institute, India

Jamyang Tashi, QED, Bhutan

Nilanjan Chaudhuri, Centre for Civil Society, India

Celebrating 10 years of Jeevika Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival & Awards Ceremony for 2014

What started as nine film entrees for the festival today boasts of over 100 entries each year from all over the world. Following a 2-day screening in Delhi, the awards ceremony will be held during the conference with a  screening of the best films followed by a discussion on the theme.

Host: Samta Arora & Sadaf Hussain, Centre for Civil Society, India

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Are Religion & Liberty Compatible?

Track A: Big Ideas

Chair: Charu Chadha, 

Editor, 

Media 9, Business 360, Nepal

Speakers:

Bican Sahin, Freedom Research Association, Turkey

Chin Huat-Wong, Penang Institute, Malaysia

Ruki Fernando, Human Rights Activist, Sri Lanka

Building & retaining a high performing team

Track B: Think Tank Leadership

Chair: Nupur Hasija, Friedrich Naumann Foundation South Asia

Speakers:

Ashutosh Tiwari, Sherpa Adventure Gear & Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Dhanuraj D, Centre for Public Policy Research, India

Hamad Siddiqui, Center for International Private Enterprise, Pakistan

Messaging for liberty

Track C: Products & Tools

Chair: Daniel Anthony, Atlas Network, USA

Baishali Bomjan, Centre for Civil Society, India

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Malaysia

Zero Hour with Freedom Champions

Mentors:

Ali Salman, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy,Pakistan

Bridgett Wagner, Heritage Foundation, USA

James Tooley, Newcastle University, UK

Ken Schoolland, International Society for Individual Liberty, USA

Linda Whetstone, Network for a Free Society, UK

Rainer Heufers, Siap Solutions Inc, Singapore

Robert Alt, Buckeye Institute, USA

Robin Sitoula, Samriddhi, Nepal

Tom G Palmer, Atlas Network, USA

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Institute for Democracy & Economic Affairs, Malaysia

Zilvinas Silenas, Lituanian Free Market Institute

Freedom Dinner

Closing Address by Dr. Bholanath Chalise

Freedom Toast by Pinky Gurung, Blue Diamond Society, Nepal

Freedom Toast by Louis Lo, Shue Yan University, Hong Kong

Live performance by Kutumba!

Vote of Thanks by Arpita Nepal, 

Director of Research and Development,

Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal

Close out and announcement for ALF 2016 by Baishali Bomjan, Asia Centre for Enterprise

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See also:
EFN Asia 43: Day 1 of Conference 2014, November 06, 2014
EFN Asia 44: Day 2 of Conference 2014, November 10, 2014

Nepal, Maoist Government and Samriddhi, Part 2

A friend in Kathmandu, Nepal, Robin Sitoula, co-founder and President of a free market think tank there, Samriddhi, the Prosperity Foundation, sends me some updates about their work there. Below are two updates from Robin. Somehow they give readers some idea how it is to live under a Maoist government, the ruling coalition in Nepal.

There is also a Maoist movement in the Philippines, led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed unit, the NPA. But it is a lost and ideologically hopeless movement, formed in 1968 or 46 years ago. It exists only because of opportunism and desire for money. Their above-ground leaders winning as Party-list Congressmen and getting huge money in pork barrel fund every year, and the extortion activities known as "revolutionary tax" by the NPA, netting huge money too, victimizing some medium and big companies in the provinces. While the Maoists in the Philippines are forever losers, the Maoists in Nepal are the ruling party in power.

Robin and his buddies in Samriddhi, also my friend Charu Chadha of Business 360 and her team, and other brave and independent-minded individuals in Nepal, are doing their work. Asserting the philosophy of entrepreneurship, citizen self-reliance and rule of law. Good work my friends, keep the drums rolling.
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March 05, 2014

Since turning into a Federal Democratic Republic in 2008, Nepal had its seventh Prime Minister last  month in Nepali Congress leader, Sushil Koirala. However, we had another reason to celebrate the month of love here at Samriddhi – getting commitment from the government to embrace “second generation of economic reforms”.

With the declaration “A Commitment to Economic Reform”, the government has pledgedto improve entry and exit procedures, improve its performance in the Doing Business indicators and eliminate unnecessary regulatory processes (starting with agriculture, tourism and energy sector) following the Nepal Economic Summit, which took place Feb 26 -28, 2014. Samriddhi, being the knowledge partner of the summit, had been working with the government in preparing the reform agendas months before the summit and a major win from the discourse was solidifying the understanding between the government and private sector to liberalize the energy sector to help Nepal come out of the acute electricity shortages resulting into the current twelve hours a day power outage situation. The summit was organized by the Government of Nepal and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Known to many as an important person in the movement for promoting liberty around the world, Mr. Rainer Hufeurs of SIAP Solutions (Singapore), was also one of the key speakers in the opening session of the Nepal Economic Summit  and he shared examples from his work in East Asian nations to make a strong case for policy reforms in the direction of free markets. Right after the summit, Mr. Hufeurs also spent three days facilitating Samriddhi’s strategic planning workshop and we will be happy to share our strategic direction with you for the year 2014-15 after we process and put the information together this month.  

April 03, 2014

The month of March became special for Nepal when its cricket team debuted at the ICC World Twenty20 cricket and gave a performance which many consider harbinger of Nepali cricket’s bright future. Although with outlook not as optimistic as Nepali cricket, the Constituent Assembly (CA) made progress in the past month by starting the process of taking ownership of the work accomplished by the erstwhile CA. Also the coalition Government of Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal –United Marxists Leninist launched their 13-page Common Minimum Program which, among other things, vows to frame a new constitution within a year. What we are now wondering about is the exact baseline date for the much talked about one year deadline.

For us here at Samriddhi Foundation, March was the month to step out and learn about the economic aspirations of Nepalese living in different parts of Nepal to identify policy priorities. Samriddhi team held consultations in five economics hubs (Biratnagar, Birgunj, Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Kathmandu) and spoke with over two hundred fifty local leaders to come up with a discussion paper that informs the current leadership about the economic aspirations of people and highlights policy priorities. Preliminary findings have shown an overwhelming support for a more open economy with government's role as a facilitator and the policy priorities to be focused on land usage, reforming labour laws and curbing corruption. These findings were shared with more than two dozen Constituent Assembly members in Kathmandu last week and we will be sharing the final discussion paper on economic aspirations and policy priorities with you in our next email.

On another high note, 24 young minds joined over 400 Arthalaya graduates last month adding vigor to the movement young people have been creating in Nepal through their entrepreneurial moves.  Arthalaya (School of Economics and Entrepreneurship) has been an award winning program of Samriddhi and has inspired more than two dozen young graduates of the program to start their own enterprises and promote entrepreneurship by forming entrepreneurship clubs in their colleges, writing blogs and articles and encouraging discussion among their friends on the virtues of markets. And the innovative music industry entrepreneurs from Nepal, Kutumba, wrapped up March for us on a sweet note by sharing their story of success in “Last Thursdays with an Entrepreneur”.
Some of things we wrote about in the past month and were published in the national dailies:

·         Response to the recent Oxfam report on wealth gap pointing out 85 of the wealthiest people in the world owning as much wealth as the poorest half of the world

·         Problem of transmission adding to Nepal’s electricity crisis

·         Small businesses like Kirana Pasals struggling with the complicated process ofbeing formal

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See also: 
Nepal and its Maoist Government, December 05, 2013 
Business 360 8: TPP, RCEP, SAARC and Free Trade, June 17, 2013

Nepal and its Maoist Government

* A guest post from a friend in Kathmandu. Robin is a co-founder of Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation (http://samriddhi.org/), a free market think tank in Nepal. He was featured in the June 2013 issue of Business 360, Nepal's free market leaning monthly business magazine where I also write a column under "Free Market".
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Nepal’s new mandate for the Constitution Assembly

Robin Sitoula

03 December 2013

Nepal has been a part of an elongated political transition for nearly half a decade now. Following the Nepalese Civil War (1996-2006) monarchy was abolished and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) emerged as a major mainstream political party from the first ever Constituent Assembly (CA) election held in 2008. After the first CA failed to deliver the constitution in May 2012 and got dissolved, efforts were made to create a multiparty government. But the political negotiations where the Maoist party exercised much influence (Dr. Baburam Bhattarai from UCPN (Maoists) still being the Prime Minister of the caretaker government) led to the formation of a technocratic electoral government in March 2013. In the meantime, a hardline faction split from UCPN (Maoists) in June 2012. The split faction led by Mohan Vaidya later opposed the second CA elections held in November 2013 and even used violent means, such as bombing, to deter the political parties and citizens from participating in the elections.

Amidst ambiguity and confusion regarding the electoral technocratic government, led by Chief Justice Mr. Khil Raj Regmi, the second CA election was initially announced to be held in November 2012. Despite speculations to the contrary, the elections were held in a largely free and fair manner on November 19, 2013. With a voter turnout of over 75% (in the face of violent obstructions and national strike by the hardline Maoist faction) and deemed free and fair by almost all national and international observers, the results of the election has left a huge majority of people and analysts shocked, especially the Maoist party itself. With the results of both first-past-the-post voting and proportional representation, it could be said that Nepal’s politics has moved marginally towards right where Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest political party and considered to be fairly centrists have won around 34 percent of CA seats. Similarly, The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) has come in second with around 30 percent seats. Despite their party’s name, the Marxist-Leninists are considered only slightly left of the center in Nepal. The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the dominant Communist party, secured only around 14 percent of the seats, which is a small fraction of its previous share of 37% in the 2008 CA election. The conservative party with monarchy and Hindu nation still on their agenda won around 4 percent of the seats whereas other parties considered left of the center constitute around 11 percent of the total CA seats.

  

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal –Maoist (UCPN-M), which was the largest party in the last CA and other Madhesee parties-- with predominance in the southern belt in the2008 election-- who lost several seats do not seem to be happy with the results. They have been claiming that the elections were rigged and it should be ‘re-evaluated’. UCPN- Maoist has gone to the extent of announcing that the party will not participate in the CA process if the results are not revaluated. This is seen by many as yet another tactic to divert the agenda from the Maoist Sumpremo Prachanda’s failure as a party leader and to ensure their larger participation in the CA despite the hard hit loss.

Looking at the current mandate of the largest (but still not enough to 51% majority) party in the CA, Nepali Congress should lead the government in coalition with other parties and also lead the process of constitution formulation and promulgation. The CA needs to finalize the constitution within two years and run the government of the next four years. Nepali Congress has had the reputation of being a pro economic liberalization party. However, power conflict and personality clashes and rifts within the party are very strong, as seen in the past. This kind of political bickering can already be seen within Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. Yet people of Nepal are anticipating a new government will be sworn in within a month’s time. Nepali Congress, as a mandated leader of this process has been making public statements that it would work towards creating a bi-partisan consensus government in this leadership. But the possibility of a bi-partisan consensus government seems bleak. In a case like this, the best likeliness is that the largest two parties -Nepali Congress and CPN-UML- will form a joint government. If this scenario works out, many expect a fairly stable political situation and possibility of a constitution actually being promulgated within stipulated time period. However, the strategic steps of the UCPN-Maoists will be critical to the overall process. As the political discourse has been shaping every day, it is yet premature to predict what the UCPN (Maoists) will settle with. Will they accept the mandate of the elections and adhere to the accepted democratic norms, or will they come up with new non-democratic stunt to win political strength? That is yet to be seen.

(Note: The percentage of parties’ representation in the CA (mentioned here) is calculated without considering the 26 seats that will be nominated by the new cabinet of Ministers and will be added to the current 575 CA seats to form the full assembly of 601 members).

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See also: 
Busiiness 360 1: Nepal and the Philippines, November 26, 2012 
Business 360 4: Brownouts and Power Deregulation, February 26, 2012