South Asia
The Foundation was established in Germany in 1958. It aims to promote the goal of making the principle of freedom valid for the dignity of all people and in all areas of society, both in Germany and abroad. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom works in over 65 countries worldwide. In South Asia we have offices in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Additionally we work with partners in Nepal. We promote civic education, trainings and the exchange of ideas in the region in four focal areas. These are economic freedom, human rights, urban governance and digital transformation. In addition to the country projects, the Foundation supports regional programs.
News
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Fifty Years of Independence: An Overview of Bangladesh’s Development
In the mid-1970s, shortly after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan on 16 December 1971, Henry Kissinger dismissively called Bangladesh a “basket case.” Today the country has attained sustainable economic growth, significant poverty reduction, and continued improvements in human development indicators.
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Afghanistan: India’s Afghan Policy Hostage to Domestic Politics
When India was celebrating its Independence Day on Aug 15, 2021, Taliban was concluding its blitzkrieg through Afghanistan and took over Kabul. Amongst all the governments in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood, India seems to have been completely unprepared for the consequences of the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
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An Overview of Bhutan’s Recovery Efforts
Bhutan managed to avoid large-scale domestic COVID-19 outbreak in the country through a series of proactive and well thought of actions, such as, stringent containment measures which included two nationwide lockdowns since 2020.
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Boosting the Vaccination Drive
The best shot to mitigate the profound risk of health crisis and move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic is by expediting the vaccination drive and ensuring that everyone is vaccinated. However, in Nepal, merely ten percent of the population have received a complete dose of the vaccine and an additional fifteen percent have received the first of the two doses.
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Nepal: Political instability, growth, and the role of think-tanks
In the 1990s, after the restoration of multi-party democracy, the hopes and aspirations of a free and prosperous Nepal amongst its citizenry were profound. The sentiment was fathomable, as the structure they envisioned meant that all people, even those that did not belong to the elite class, had an equal shot at prosperity. Unfortunately, after three decades of democracy, their hopes and vision have not yet materialized.
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Lessons from Bhutan: The Bhutanese Economy and the Private Sector
The Bhutanese economy commercialized only after 1961 when the first development plan began. Prior to that, it was a small and scattered population relying heavily on subsistence agriculture. The little trade that existed was bartering and exchange of surpluses within communities. Records show that external trade with Tibet in the north and the Indian state of West Bengal existed.
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Lessons from Bhutan: Nurturing Democracy
Bhutan has been an example of how good governance can form the backbone of democracy if nurtured deftly. In many respects, Bhutanese democracy is a success story in good governance. For a small landlocked country in South Asia, between India and China, Bhutan has carved out an exemplary approach to development and democracy. It has gone on to demonstrate how good leadership and foresight can sow the seeds of democracy.
Social Media
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South Asian economies possess a considerable potential of intra-regional trade in services, however due to variety of reason the region fails to tap the potential. Labour mobility is the bedrock of trade in services, and most of regional trade agreement across the world address the movement of workers and labour mobility that includes entry to the cross border labour market permanently or temporarily. True potential of services sector in South Asia is yet to be realized. This is possible only when respective governments take the lead in implementing a unified strategy realistically carved out for a region like South Asia. A large part of it depends on the willingness of the political establishments sitting in each country coupled with a proactive role played by the private sector.
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Mr Waqar Rizvi is a multilingual Canadian-Pakistani broadcast journalist, award winning TV host and political analyst with experience in social media management. Mr Rizvi has been an international TV (and radio) show host and news anchor for over 15 years. Mr Rizvi has also undergone multiple professional trainings which includes training with Marki Costello in Hollywood and Adrian Finighan of Al Jazeera English. We are happy to announce that he will be moderating our today's online business dialogue #restartasianeconomies “Unlocking the Region’s Potential: Labour Mobility in South Asia”. Join us live on FB!
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Mr. Wansapriya Gunaseela is Co-Founder and Managing Director of BUILDTEK Consultants (Pvt) Ltd -Sri Lanka. He is also the general assembly member of @SAARCCCI - Sri Lanka. With a professional career exceeding two-and-a-half decades, he has established himself as an accomplished leader in the manufacturing industry. Catch him live and exclusive on 20th September at 1700hrs IST. Register here: https://fnfsouthasia.webex.com/fnfsouthasia/onstage/g.php?MTID=eea98da193c1e94dbf2c263874a708b18
