Lao citizens have a limited understanding of laws, citizen rights, the legal system, and the role of lawyers in their country, especially in remote areas and among ethnic populations. With a total of only about 70 laws currently on the books, the Lao government has given increased attention to improving the rule of law.

In response, The Asia Foundation recently launched a new effort to help the Lao Bar Association — a professional organization that represents lawyers throughout Laos — improve its services for poor and rural citizens and educate the public on laws and rights in Laos (click here to read more about this project).
Read more »

By Sagar Prasai

Sagar Prasai is The Asia Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Nepal. He can be reached at sagar@taf.org.np.

When the first set of results started pouring in after the April 10 polls, it looked as if the Maoists were heading for a landslide victory. But when the counting came to an end, the Maoists ended up with 240 seats, or 39.9 percent of the Constituent Assembly, followed by the Nepali Congress (NC) at 120 seats, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) at 113 seats, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) at 52 seats, and smaller parties taking the rest. In the 601-member Assembly, according to the Interim Constitution, a two-thirds majority is required to form a government. Now that reality is sinking in, it’s clear no single party, or even two parties combined, can produce a governing majority. As a result, Nepal’s post-election government is likely to look and feel more or less similar to its pre-election government, except on one account: the Maoists will be heading this government.
Read more »

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 Dr. James Klein, Country Representative in Thailand, The Asia Foundation

The Asia Foundation is pleased to invite you to a luncheon discussion with Dr. James Klein, who will provide first-hand insight and analysis of recent developments in Thailand, in particular political developments since the September 19, 2006 military coup, and Thai perceptions of the current environment.

Dr. Klein has been a long-time Southeast Asian specialist having lived in the region for over 25 years. Since 1996, Dr. Klein has been the Foundation’s resident Representative in Bangkok. Before then he served as The Asia Foundation’s Representative to Cambodia and Malaysia. His introduction to Asia came when he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Khon Kaen, Thailand from 1973 to 1976. Dr. Klein has a Ph.D. in History and Southeast Asian Studies from Northern Illinois University. 

Location:
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Building, Choate Room, Ground Floor
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

RSVP:
To attend, or for more information, please contact Ms. Nicole Sayres at nsayres@asiafound-dc.org, or 202-588-9420 ext. 1313. If leaving a message, please include your name, title, affiliation, and contact details.

As seating is limited, please RSVP by Tuesday, May 15th.

With Dr. James Klein, Country Representative in Thailand, The Asia Foundation

On September 19, 2006, military leaders in Thailand staged a bloodless coup to overthrow the administration installed by Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup was welcomed by most Thai citizens, who deemed it necessary to rid the nation of systemic corruption and restore democracy, but condemned by the international community as a blow to democracy. Seven months later, as promised, a military-appointed Constitution Drafting Assembly has proposed the draft of a new constitution that will be open for public comment until May 26, 2007.

Has the coup in fact been “good” for Thai democracy, and will the new constitution help ensure the coup’s promises of ending political divisiveness, corruption, and the violence in southern Thailand?

Please join The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand, Dr. James Klein, a renowned Thailand expert who — with over 30 years of experience in the country — is widely published on Thai democracy, rule of law, and conflict resolution.

Co-sponsored by Asia Society Northern California. 

Location:
The Asia Foundation, Haydn Williams Conference Room
465 California Street, 8th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

To attend or for more information, please e-mail rsvp@asiafound.org.
 

With Hamid Sharif, Country Representative in Pakistan, The Asia Foundation

The Asia Foundation is pleased to invite you to a breakfast discussion with Mr. Hamid Sharif, who will provide first-hand insight and analysis of recent political developments in Pakistan. His presentation will cover Pakistani perceptions and response to US foreign policy, preparations for the upcoming elections, and the situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
 
Before joining the Foundation in 2005, Mr. Sharif served as the Assistant General Counsel for South Asia, and law and policy reform at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Mr. Sharif’s career also includes professorships at the Lahore University of Management Sciences and at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. In 2004, Mr. Sharif co-authored a study on Devolution in Pakistan that was published by the ADB, the World Bank, and the Department for International Development.  Mr. Sharif received an LL.M from Cambridge University U.K. and qualified as a barrister-at-law from Lincoln’s Inn, U.K.

Location: 
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2nd Floor
 (Corner of 18th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW)
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

RSVP: 
To attend or for more information, please contact Mr. Guyltone Sukawati at gsukawati@asiafound-dc.org, or 202-588-9420 ext. 1304.
If leaving a message, please include your name, title, affiliation, and contact details. 

As seating is limited, please RSVP by Wednesday, May 16th.