CAPP Events: 2003

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RAND Analyst Participates in Sustainable Development Conference

RAND analyst Anny Wong was the only participant from the United States in "Wealth Creation and Sustainable Development: A Liberal Democratic Agenda," an annual sustainable development conference organized by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) Conference 2003, with support from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FRF), that took place May 29-30, 2003 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The meeting brought together liberal and democratic party parliamentarians from across Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. They included Sam Rainsy (leader of the main opposition in Cambodia), Surin Pitsuan (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and current UN Commission for Human Security), Werner Hoyer (Former Minister of State, Germany, and President of the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party), P. Chidambaram (former Minister of Finance of India), Saumura Tioulong (former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Cambodia), Florencio Abad (President of the Liberal Party of the Philippines), Jay-kun Yoo (Chair of Special Committee on Foreign Relations and Cooperation of the Millennium Democratic Party of Korea), Martin Lee (Chair of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong), Mei-xing Yang (Vice Chair of Research and Planning Board in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in ROC) and Rajiva Wijeshinha (President of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka).

Researchers and academics were also invited to serve as discussants and panelists in the conference. Wong was a discussant of a keynote speech by Hoyer on a comparative analysis of the conservative, socialist and liberal paradigms toward wealth creation and sustainable development. The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and other current and former high officials gave keynote speeches at this meeting.

Speeches and discussions focused heavily on describing political and economic experiences in various countries in these regions. Panel sessions addressed issues tied to stimulating and supporting local entrepreneurship, including access to capital, markets, education, technology and training.

A volume entitled "September 11 and Political Freedom: Asian Perspectives" was launched. This publication was funded by FNF and produced in partnership with CALD. Scholars throughout the Asia Pacific region contributed chapters to this volume.