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.

Jointly hosted by Asia Research Institute and

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Supported by The Asia Foundation and the Centre on Asia and Globalisation

Speakers will include:

Steve Rood, The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in the Philippines

&

Thomas Parks, The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Conflict and Governance

Description: 

Over recent decades, a number of South and Southeast Asian states have been troubled by intensifying armed separatist conflicts. Various forms of autonomy have been promoted by scholars and policy-makers as the most democratic way of accommodating separatist insurgents in ethnically, politically, religiously, economically and socially divided states. Despite this, very few states have successfully ended their armed separatist conflicts through offers of autonomy or self-governance. This raises difficult questions about how much freedom nation-states are willing and capable of granting their nationalist minorities without releasing control over their sovereign territories.

This international workshop promotes a multidisciplinary approach towards understanding national identity problems in seven South and Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand, India and Indonesia’s former province of East Timor. It explores the political, economic, legal, security and other compromises that have been offered by national governments to negotiate shared-rule outcomes with their separatist movements through the devolution of central state authority and resources. These attempts to achieve conflict resolution through autonomy have met with varying degrees of success, ranging from Indonesia’s successful offer of self-governance to Aceh to the ongoing separatist insurgencies in Indonesia’s Papua, southern Thailand, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Burma.

Location: Manasseh Meyer Building, Level 3 Seminar Room
(MM03-01) Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore

For more information on the program, abstracts, and how to register, click here.

Hosted by SAIS Southeast Asia Studies Program and The Asia Foundation with generous support from Exxon-Mobil Corporation

This one and a half-day conference brings together American and Filipino government officials, scholars, experts, and watchers of Philippine affairs, providing a venue for exchange ideas on the prospects for political reform, economic development, and peace and security in Southeast Asia’s oldest democracy. Specifically, the meeting will look into the issues and problems concerning democratic consolidation, reform of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, economic development, internal armed conflicts, and the future of bilateral partnership between the Philippines and the United States.

In addition to major speakers, the conference will have five panel sessions with three panelists each and an open forum for discussion and exchange of ideas among presenters and participants. The conference agenda and registration information will be available on March 14, 2008. Below is an outline of the conference program

Schedule:

Monday, 7 April 2008

8:15-8:45 AM Continental Breakfast available

8:45-9:00 AM Welcome Remarks

Dr. Karl D. Jackson, Director, Southeast Asia Studies, SAIS

Dr. Noel M. Morada, Visiting Professor of Southeast Asia Studies, SAIS

9:00-10:30 AM Panel I: The Philippine Economy: How Can the Philippines Sustain Economic Growth and Development? .

Chair: Dr. Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, The Asia Foundation

Panelists:

Mr. Brett Decker, Senior Vice President, ExIm Bank

Dr. Felipe Medalla, School of Economics, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman

World Bank Representative (tbi)

10:30-10:45 AM Break

10:45 AM-12:15 PM Panel II: Transforming Philippine Politics: How Can the Philippines Get Democratic Good Governance?

Chair: Dr. Steven Rood, The Asia Foundation-Manila

Panelists:

Dr. Paul Hutchcroft, University of Wisconsin Madison

Prof. Alexander R. Magno, Department of Political Science, UP Diliman

12:15-1:45 PM Luncheon: “Asian Development Outlook”

Briefing: Dr. Ifzal Ali, Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank
Moderator: Dr. Michael Plummer, Resident Professor of International Economics, SAIS Bologna Center

1:45-2:00 PM Break

2:00-3:30 PM Panel III: Is Military Reform Possible?

Chair: Prof. William Wise, Associate Director Southeast Asia Studies, SAIS

Panelists:

Mr. James Clad, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense

Col. Gregorio Catapang, Department of National Defense

Mr. Ed Ross, President, EWRoss International LLC

3:30-3:45 PM Break

3:45-5:15 PM Panel IV: Armed Challenges: How Can the Philippines Manage Internal Conflict?

Chair: Mr. Eugene Martin, Executive Director, Hopkins Nanjing Center

Panelists:Mr. F. Augusto J. Mier, National Security Council of the Philippines
Dr. Susan Russell, Northern Illinois University

5:15 PM End of Day 1 of the Conference

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

8:30-9:00 AM Continental Breakfast available

9:00-11:00 AM Panel V: Beyond the Security Alliance: Philippine-US Relations in the 21st Century

Chair: Dr. Karl D. Jackson, Director, Southeast Asia Studies, SAIS

Panelists:

Mr. Scot Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, East Asia and Pacific Affairs, State Department

Mr. Carlos Sorreta, Deputy Chief of Mission, Philippine Embassy Washington DC

Dr. Steven Rood, The Asia Foundation-Manila

Dr. Noel M. Morada, Visiting Professor of Southeast Asia Studies, SAIS

11:00 AM End of Conference

Location: Kenney Auditorium, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

For more information, please contact: Noel M. Morada, Ph.D.

Visiting Professor of Southeast Asia Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C.

Tel: (202) 663-5815

Email: nmorada1@jhu.edu, nmorada@gmail.com

San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Berkeley, CA - March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA - March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA - March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2008

The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The EGI highlights the provinces that are most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business start-up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, and access to training and legal institutions.

The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been  increased public attention when index standings are announced, resulting in healthy competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see the index as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this important effort to support increased business activity through the use of the Economic Governance Index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.

Expert Speakers:
Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia

RSVP: Please contact info@asiafound-dc.org for more information with your name, affiliation, and contact information.

San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Berkeley, CA - March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA - March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA - March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2008

The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The EGI highlights the provinces that are most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business start-up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, and access to training and legal institutions.

The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been  increased public attention when index standings are announced, resulting in healthy competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see the index as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this important effort to support increased business activity through the use of the Economic Governance Index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.

Expert Speakers:
Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia

RSVP: Please reply by March 19, 2008 to rsvp@asiafound.org or 415 743-3347
with your name, affiliation, contact information, and the location/date of the one EGI presentation you would like to attend.

San Francisco - Friday, March 28, 2008: noon–2:00 pm

Lunch included
The Asia Foundation’s Haydn Williams Conference Room
465 California Street, 8th floor, San Francisco
Co-sponsored by Cal-Asia Business Council

San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Berkeley, CA - March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA - March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA - March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2008

The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The EGI highlights the provinces that are most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business start-up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, and access to training and legal institutions.

The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been  increased public attention when index standings are announced, resulting in healthy competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see the index as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this important effort to support increased business activity through the use of the Economic Governance Index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.

Expert Speakers:
Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia

RSVP: Please reply by March 19, 2008 to rsvp@asiafound.org or 415 743-3347
with your name, affiliation, contact information, and the location/date of the one EGI presentation you would like to attend.

Palo Alto - Thursday, March 27, 2008: 4:30–6:00pm

Stanford University’s Donald L. Lucas Conference Center
Corner of Galvez and Serra Streets, Stanford University Campus, Palo Alto
Co-sponsored by Stanford’s Center for International Development

San Francisco Area and Washington, D.C.
Berkeley, CA - March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA - March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA - March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. - April 1, 2008

The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The EGI highlights the provinces that are most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business start-up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, and access to training and legal institutions.

The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been  increased public attention when index standings are announced, resulting in healthy competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see the index as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this important effort to support increased business activity through the use of the Economic Governance Index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.

Expert Speakers:
Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia

RSVP: Please reply by March 19, 2008 to rsvp@asiafound.org or 415 743-3347
with your name, affiliation, contact information, and the location/date of the one EGI presentation you would like to attend. Space is limited at all locations. You will be sent a confirmation within 2 business days of your request.

Berkeley - Wednesday, March 26, 2008: 10:00 am-1:00 pm

Lunch included
UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Library
109 Moses Hall, U.C. Berkeley Campus, Berkeley
Co-sponsored by Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, and Institute of Governmental Studies

With special guests: Kishore Mahbubani, Larry Diamond, and Donald K. Emmerson
Moderated by Douglas Bereuter

To register for this event, please click here.

This program will bring together some of the world’s leading experts on Southeast Asia and democracy to consider critical questions facing the region. Has the American model of democracy become tarnished in Asia, and is the Chinese model of authoritarian capitalism of growing appeal and significance? What are the dimensions and implications of Islamicization for Southeast Asia? What are the prospects for cleaning up notoriously corrupt party politics? Will the military ever be driven out of politics in places like Thailand and thePhilippines ? Is the American-led “war on terror” helping stabilize politics in the region, or is it exacerbating already serious problems? What do these developments mean for U.S. foreign policy and American influence in Asia?

Speakers:

Kishore Mahbubani, one of Asia ’s leading public intellectuals, is author of the forthcoming The New Asian Hemisphere: the Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East; and Can Asians Think? and Beyond the Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust Between America and the World. Now the Dean and Professor of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, he served for 33 years as a diplomat for Singapore.

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, and the newly-released The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World.

Donald K. Emmerson has written or edited more than a dozen books and monographs on Southeast Asian politics, including the forthcoming Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia and Indonesia Beyond Suharto. His latest publication is titled “Challenging ASEAN” (Jan 2008). He is a senior fellow at Stanford University, where he also heads the Southeast Asia Forum.

Douglas Bereuter (moderator) is president of The Asia Foundation. He assumed his current position after 26 years of service in the U.S. Congress, where he was one of that body’s leading authorities on Asian affairs and international relations.

To register for this event, please click here. 

Time:
5:30 pm Registration/Reception/Book signing
6:00 - 7:30 pm Program

Location:
Merchant Exchange Building
Julia Morgan Ballroom
465 California Street, 15th Floor
San Francisco, California

Co-sponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, Business Executives for National Security, Stanford University Southeast Asia Forum, UC Berkeley Center for Southeast Asian Studies, USF Center for the Pacific Rim and the World Affairs Council. 

With Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar, Former Consul General to San Francisco and Program Development Consultant for The Asia Foundation.

As India celebrates sixty years of independence, the country’s outlook is marked by dramatic turns in its economic position, a rapidly evolving nuclear program, and efforts to determine the role India will play in the region. The world’s second most populous nation, India has survived as a diverse, secular democracy for six decades, and its economy has surged. Please join Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar, Program Development Consultant for The Asia Foundation, as he explores where India is headed in this troubled yet promising century.

Ambassador Abhyankar has been involved in formulating Indian policy in the areas of politics and security, trade and investment, and culture and education. He has held many diplomatic posts, including Ambassador to the European Union, and to the Republics of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Syria, as well as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, where he supervised India’s relations with the countries of the Middle East and the Islamic world. He also served as Consul General in San Francisco from 1998 to 2001.

The Asia Foundation has supported India’s development since the mid-1950’s. Currently, the Foundation maintains a non-resident program there, focusing on International Relations, the Environment, Governance, Economic Reform, Women’s Empowerment, and Philanthropy.

Co-sponsored by the Asia Society and the East-West Center

Location:
Haydn Williams Conference Room
The Asia Foundation
465 California Street, 8th Floor
San Francisco, CA

Registration:
Registration 5:30 PM, Program 6:00 PM

RSVP:
To attend, or for more information, please e-mail rsvp@asiafound.org or call 415-743-3347.