EFN Asia 31. Friends in the Asian Free Market Movement

* Note: this is a revised and expanded version of my posting last November 04. I added two photos, me and Barun, 2004 vs. 2013. Also expanded some stories.

During the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia 2013 conference in Bangkok last October 21-22, two friends from the Japanese for Tax Reforms (JTR) came, Marc Abela and Hiroshi Yoshida. A third and young participant from JTR joined them.

Hiroshi is a long time friend since 2005, during the Atlas-FNF round table discussion on Hayek's “The Constitution of Liberty”. Hiroshi came with Mr. You then, the President of JTR. After that one-day event, the EFN Asia 2005 conference started, same hotel in Phuket, Thailand.  

It was my first time to meet Marc, who has been a friend since several years ago in facebook and ARBM Phuket yahoogroups.  I had a debate with him before re anarchy vs monarchy, friendly debate. I didn’t know that he’s a cool, always smiling guy.

Marc is also the convenor of the Mises Study Group in Tokyo. He's Canadian but has been working in Japan for about two decades now. And good news, he's planning to help organize a regional or international forum of free marketers in Tokyo soon.

Our photo, with (from left) Yo Kwong, formerly VP for Institute Relations of Atlas, Mr. You and Hiroshi Yoshida of JTR. During the Atlas Liberty Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, May 2008.

I miss Jo, really cool, warm and friendly lady. Last time I saw her was in November 2009, during the Atlas celebration of 20 years collapse of the Berlin Wall. She raised the funds for my trips during Atlas events in the US. She has resigned from Atlas in 2010.

In China, I have several friends there, from the Unirule Institute of Economics and CIPA in Beijing. Like Feng Xingyuan, Mao Shoulong, Liu Junning, Zhao Xu, others.

In India, many friends there too but the more prominent ones are Barun Mitra and Mohit Satyanand of the Liberty Institute in Delhi. Then Parth Shah of the Center for Civil Society (CCS), Bibek Debroy.

From S. Korea, great and cool friend, Chung-ho Kim, of the newly-formed Freedom Factory Ltd., a new think tank, came. He teaches Economics at Yonsei Univ. in Seoul. He used to be the President of the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE).

Photo, LRI Reading Club Salon 2013, October 19, Hong Kong.

After the farewell dinner of the Reading Salon, I have a photo with Andrew Work, the first Exec Director of the  Lion Rock Institute. Andrew and I were friends way back in 2004, first met him at the Mackinac Center in Michigan, leadership conference with Larry Reed. I was sponsored by Atlas then, along with Ellen Cain of FEF. Parth Shah and his wife, Mana Shah was also in that Mackinac conference.

Then we went to Chicago for the Heritage conference, then the Atlas conference.

First time I met Barun Mitra, April 2004 -- in my hotel room. We were roommates then. I did not have any idea who Barun Mitra was, only at the Atlas conference did I realize that he was a giant in the Asian free market movement. He has been in the free market movement for 2+ decades already, while I was in the international movement for only 1 month then.

So Andrew and Barun were among my early friends in the free market movement. I met them again that year in Hong Kong during the EFN Asia 2004 Conference. We are still around until now. The way we manage our life, it seems we are stuck in this passion until we grow old, for the long haul :-)

Now compare our faces, October 2013, at the Hong Kong airport. I told Madhu, Barun's wife and my friend in facebook, that I saw him 3x in 3 countries this year, she laughed and said all she saw were photos.

Barun and Xingyuan also have their own photo. In Asia, perhaps the oldest or the pioneer in the movement is Barun Mitra. Followed perhaps by Xingyuan, who started working with FNF Beijing under Rainer Adam, for about 7 years in the 90s. So Barun has been around for 3+ decades, Xingyuan for 2+ decades, me and Andrew and Simon Lee, LRI co-founder, for almost 1 decade.

I know that Parth Shah, Bibek Debroy, have been around ahead of us, maybe contemporary with Xingyuan. I miss Mohit Satyanand, a tall guy, frank and no-nonsense speaker and moderator. He was a panel moderator of EFN conferences from 2004-2006. I also saw him in 2005 during the IPN’s “Global Development Network” conference in London.

I met Feng and Barun 3x this year in 3 countries. First in S. Korea last May, in Seoul then Jeju, for the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity where EFN Asia was a panel sponsor. Then I met them in Hong Kong last Oct 18-19, for the Reading Club Salon 2013 by the Lion Rock Institute. Then met them again in Bangkok, for the 3rd time this year.

Photo, Barun, me, Xingyuan, and Shoulong, inside the taxi from our hotel in HK to the HK Airport, to take our flight to Bangkok.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan is "new" in the Asia free market movement because he just moved in about 3 or 4 years ago from London where he worked for almost 18 years and was involved with the Conservative movement there. But IDEAS is the biggest, most dynamic free market think tank in the whole ASEAN. Or perhaps comparable in size with Freedom Institute in Jakarta, though I think IDEAS is more known globally than Freedom Institute.

I saw Wan 3x this year too. First in Korea along with Barun and Xingyuan, then in Manila two months ago when he attended a conference at De La Salle University (DLSU) and I dragged him to give an evening talk at my rotary club, where 4 other free marketers here in Manila came. Then met him again in Bangkok.

I am glad that Tricia Yeoh has migrated to IDEAS too, from Rakyat Institut. Tricia is a very articulate and intelligent lady, so IDEAS is being packed with more brains. Young and dynamic brains.

Another good friend from Pakistan is Zubair Malik whom I met in Hong Kong during the EFN Asia 2004 Conference. I would see him in all EFN conferences that I have attended. Zubair is also the President of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, elected last year. He travels a lot internationally, also within Pakistan, 

Another good friend from Pakistan is Khalil Ahmad of the Alternate Solutions Institute, a free market think tank based in Lahore. After the EFN 2006 conference in KL, I did not see him in other EFN conferences. Last time I saw him was in 2010 in Sydney, during the 4th Pacific Rim Policy Exchange sponsored by the Americans for Tax Reforms (ATR), PRA, IPA and IPN. 

There are many other friends from Asia that I did not mention above. I did mention about them in my previous articles on EFN Asia.

Meanwhile, I will see Rainer Adam and other key FNF officials next week here in Manila. FNF has lots of big, high profile events from November 7 to 11. I will join in some of these, including the Freedom Run on Nov. 10 morning, then the Freedom Awards that evening.

FNF has done a great job in spreading freedom in Asia. For many of us in the movement, if we look back a decade or so from now, FNF will appear as the great partner to many of us.  Also the LRI. Thanks again to Peter Wong, Exec. Director of LRI, for inviting me to the two Reading Club Salon of LRI, last year and this year.

-------------

See also:

EFN Asia 27: Escaping Middle Income Trap via Economic Freedom, October 08, 2013

Business 360 11: Avoiding Middle Income Trap, September 19, 2013 

EFN Asia 28: Program of the 2013 Conference in Bangkok, October 17, 2013 

EFN Asia 29: Speakers in Day 1, Conference 2013 in Bangkok, October 21, 2013 

EFN Asia 30: Conference 2013, Day 1, October 23, 2013

EFN Asia 17: Zubair Malik as President of FPCCI

The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia facebook page announced today,

Zubair Ahmed Malik has been elected unopposed as the president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in the annual elections for the year 2013. He was nominated by the Businessmen Panel Group and has been former president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2004.

Zubair, in red dress in the above photo, is a friend since 2004, when I first participated in EFN Asia annual conference in Hong Kong. I would see him yearly since then, except in 2007 and 2008 where I was not invited. The country director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) in Pakistan, Olaf Kellerhoff, is very proud of this feat by Zubair. Olaf is also a friend of mine, he's a giant, could be 6'10" or almost 7 footer in height.

In the 2010 EFN Asia Conference in Jakarta, Zubair was one of the panel speakers. And I was one of the panel moderators and he was on my panel. Below are portions of my introduction of the panel before I gave the floor to him and his co-speaker, Aco Patunru from Indonesia.

These three graphs I developed then, simply show three things. (1) in the absence of people mobility and free trade across countries, there is widespread disequilibrium and disparity in wages among people worldwide. With (2) freer mobility of people and goods across countries and continents, the average wage in rich countries and in poorer countries tend to narrow down. And (3) if full free trade of goods, services and people happen, this gap will become even more narrow, the world will approach the commodity price equalization (CPE) theorem.

Then I introduced the two speakers. Aco Patunru is young, very articulate, very intelligent. I first met him in 2006 during the EFN Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur. He spoke on the panel on international trade and when he was asked during the open forum what to do with the stalled multilateral talks at the WTO, he said one solution is unilateral trade liberalization by countries.. Many in the audience, me included, gave him a loud applause for his frank and direct answer.

Then I introduced Zubair. By profession, he is a businessman, a successful entrepreneur and hence, fully appreciates the value of free enterprise, free market and individual freedom.

Three weeks ago, Zubair came to Manila then Cebu for a business trip. A week before he came, we arranged for a meeting, I would visit him in his hotel, Diamond Hotel in Manila, March 17 evening. We did not finalize things days before he arrived, and I was also in Palawan for three days. I went to his hotel that night but he was out. Should be in another business meeting.

Congrats Zubair, and see you again in the next EFN Asia conference.
--------------

See also:

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 

EFN Asia 16: Participation in Jeju Forum for Peace 2013, March 19, 2013

EFN Asia 4: Migration and Freedom, Jakarta Conference

The 11th Economic Freedom Network - Asia Conference here in Jakarta ended last night. Below is my article yesterday posted in the lobbyist.biz with original title, Migration and Freedom)

Jakarta, Indonesia – “If goods are not allowed to cross borders, soldiers will.” And “If goods are allowed to cross borders, then workers and entrepreneurs who create those goods be freely allowed to cross borders as well.”

The first quote is from a French free market intellectual in the 17th century, Frederic Bastiat. The second is from Simon Lee, a young intellectual from Lion Rock Institute, a free market think tank in Hong Kong. He showed that quote from Bastiat in one of his presentations in a conference here.

Simon and me are among the hundred-plus participants, speakers and moderators from many countries in the 11th Economic Freedom Network (EFN) – Asia Conference held here Sultan Hotel in the capital city of Indonesia, October 6-8, 2010. The theme of this year’s conference is “Migration and the Wealth of Nations”. The main sponsor is the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) and co-sponsored by six other free market-oriented think tanks – Institute for Economics and Social Research (LPEM, Univ. of Indonesia), Freedom Institute, Indonesian Institute, Atlas, Fraser Institute, and the International Policy Network. The first three are based in Indonesia and last three are based in the US, Canada and UK, respectively.

I was invited in the conference to be one of the 9 moderators in 9 panel discussions in the two-days conference. I moderated the panel on “Preparing migrants before departure” and the two speakers in the panel were Dr. Arianto Patunru, Director of LPEM and Economics Professor at the University of Indonesia, and Zubair Ahmed Malik, former VP of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The two speakers gave productive and engaging presentations as they gave their own country experiences in migration of their people to other countries. Indonesia and Pakistan are the world’s 4th and 6th biggest countries in population size, with estimated 2010 population of 231 million and 170 million, respectively. With such a huge population, it is expected that many of their people will be seeking work and other opportunities abroad.

Migration happens because people want freedom. Economic, political, cultural, religious, personal freedom. If they are not happy with their current state in their home province or country, they seek an opportunity to move out and start a new life. This is a perfectly rational human behavior and thus, restricting such freedom by individuals is not an appropriate role or function by governments. Unless of course, if some individuals have committed some crime against their fellows in their home country, they should clear their names first or serve the penalty before moving out.

Remittances by workers abroad to their home countries is growing to several hundred billion dollars a year now. In the Philippines alone, remittances by OFWs through the formal financial system was $17.35 billion last year, and is projected to possibly reach $19 billion this year.

People mobility across countries and continents is a fundamental human rights. With continuing innovation and modernization in information and communications technology, in aviation and the airline and related industries, the opportunities for people mobility is getting bigger and bigger. Some households and firms abroad want more new workers; some workers and managers in other countries want new jobs with better pay and working environment. Some students simply want to learn new things abroad.

It is good that the FNF has initiated this kind of regional conference. FNF is a good ally of freedom-loving people and independent institutes in Asia and other parts of the world.
------

Among the old friends in our Asian liberty forum discussion yahoogroups who came here in Jakarta were -- Barun, Parth and Bibek (India), Xingyuan and Jude (China), Wan and Shankaran (Malaysia), Arianto and Luthfi (Indonesia) , Minh and Ha (Vietnam), Simon (HK), Gorawut (Thailand), Carlos and Alvin (Philippines), Robin (Nepal), Seyitbek and Michu (Kyrgyztan), Jyoti (Australia-Thailand), Tom and Kelsey (US), and Alec (UK).

Aco Patunru was a big guy in the conference, he gave the welcome address in behalf of the Indonesian co-sponsors, he presented a paper in a panel discussion (I was his moderator :-)), he talked again in the plenary on the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) 2010 report, and he gave the intro message of the EFW 2010 Report Indoneian edition.







I told Luthfi I was super-impressed. The Freedom Institute could be the biggest free market think tank in the whole of Asia. They also have a creative source of funding. They put up a political consulting company that's making good money, and that company mainly finances or subsidizes the operating expenditures of the Institute. They also get some individual donors but not much.

There were two highlights of the farewell dinner last night.

First, the reading of the Conference Resolution on "Migration and the Wealth of Nations". The hudred-plus participants of the conference have issued a collective statement that migration is freedom, that government restrictions on the freedom of mobility of people should be relaxed. Simon Lee read the official, 2-page statement. It will be available at the EFN website soon, www.efnasia.org. Also the previous presentation materials.

Second, the live band singing and dancing. Freedom Institute got a local band playing beautiful Indonesian songs. But since the participants come from different countries, there were soon Indian songs, Chinese songs, Nepalese songs, and of course, western music. Many young participants, mostly university students who attended the 2-days Libertarian Youth conference before the EFN conference, also held in the same hotel, led the dancing. Lots of food, lots of singing and dancing, very merry atmosphere.

The EFN members' and observers' meeting will be held today in the same hotel. I told Jyoti, Gorawut, and Rainer Heufers that I cannot participate in the meeting. I left my wife at the hospital last Wed morning when our new daughter was only 2-days old. Have to be with them tonight and thus, must fly this morning.

I am super-grateful to Jyoti that she invited me to become one of the panel moderators in the conference. And of course the FNF for holding this kind of annual conference and for sponsoring my trip :-)
------

See also:
EFN Asia 1: From HK to Phuket to KL, September 16, 2006
EFN Asia 2: Hayek in Asia, September 20, 2010
EFN Asia 3: Conference in Jakarta, October 06, 2010