Doug Bereuter, President of The Asia Foundation, recently returned from Korea and Mongolia. In Mongolia, he met with President Enkhbayar, Democratic Party Leader Ts. Elbegdorj, and Civic Union/Green Party Leader Enkhbat, in addition to touring mine sites in Zamaar soum, Tov aimag. His interview with MM News Television can be viewed here. In Korea, Mr. Bereuter delivered the speech, “Challenges in U.S.-Asian Relations Awaiting a New American President” which can be read in its entirety here.

By Steven Rood

Steven Rood is The Asia Foundations Country Representative in the Philippines.. He can be reached at srood@asiafound.org.

Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, representatives of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were slated to sign yet another agreement, two years in the making, that would have moved peace talks one step closer to a comprehensive compact. However, dozens of us ” peace negotiators, diplomats, officials, and civil society observers ” on a Monday afternoon flight from Manila were startled to learn, when turning on our mobile phones upon landing, that the Philippine’s Supreme Court had issued a temporary restraining order to halt the signing, leaving us to wonder how to move forward. In the short run, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on August 15 on whether to lift the restraining order or to make it permanent.
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org.

Last week, the latest round of talks under the “Doha Round” of multilateral trade negotiations ended in disarray and disappointment. The trade ministers and negotiators gathered in Geneva could not ” again ” reach agreement on reforms in agricultural support and trade.

The mainstream press reports that the refusal of China and India to reduce import tariffs is the main reason for the collapse of the talks. Yet behind the belligerence of less-developed countries at the negotiations lies a much more important obstacle to trade reforms: the continuing and growing ” and worse, unnecessary subsidies, and protection being provided to European and especially American, farmers.
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Who: The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) was established in 1997, as Asia’s first regional network of civil society organizations. It strives to promote and support democratization at national and regional levels in Asia.

What: Twenty-two COMELEC-accredited international election observers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, arrive in Manila for a briefing-orientation prior to being fielded to all provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), in collaboration with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), 16 partner Muslim civil society organizations, and the Assembly of the Darul Ifta of the Philippines coordinated the international election observation mission. ANFREL’s effort is being conducted with support from The Asia Foundation and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). On August 1, ANFREL will be formally presented to COMELEC Chairman Jose A. R. Melo and will hold a press conference.

Where: Ballroom B, Crown Regency Hotel, 1026 Arnaiz Avenue, San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
Tel. +63 2 845.0211 to 15

RSVP: Ms. Tatine G. Faylona +63 919 6301376 or Mr. Mark Guevarra +63 927 7162441

For other information on ANFREL, please visit www.anfrel.org which also contains reports on various other ANFREL works in Asian countries

Hosted by USAID, The Asia Foundaiton, and The Institute for Bangsamoro Studies.

Where:     Estosan Garden Hotel, Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines
Phone +63 82 235 0888

What:    The Forum on Aceh and the Mindanao Peace Processes is a venue for comparative learning between the Aceh (Indonesia) and Mindanao peace processes. Specifically, it aims to do the following:

“¢    identify factors that contribute to the success of the implementation of the 2005 Helsinki Agreement for Aceh;
“¢    describe the role of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in the initial implementation of the agreement;
“¢    suggest recommendations that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) can consider in the ongoing peace talks from both the Aceh Peace Agreement, and locally, from the experience of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) when it forged the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the GRP in 1996

Speakers: Mr. Wiratmadinata, the Forum’s principal speaker, is The Asia Foundation’s William P. Fuller Fellow in Conflict Resolution for 2007-2008.  He will be joined by Major Haroun-Al-Rashid Jaji of the Philippine Army assigned with the 6th Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao and Prof. Abhoud Lingga, Executive Director of the Institute for Bangsamoro Studies. Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema will give the opening remarks.

RSVP : Cris Cayon, The Asia Foundation: ccayon@asiafound.org, or Mobile: +63 (920) 916-8711.