Asia Liberty Forum

The 2024 Asia Liberty Forum: Networking to Empower

The Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) is an event where individuals representing think tanks and civil society organizations from various countries in Asia meet to exchange ideas and experiences around freedom issues. This event is held every year from one Asian country to another by Atlas Network, a non-profit organization in the United States, in collaboration with a local partner organization as the host.

The generosity of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) allowed me on behalf of the Institut Demokrasi dan Kesejahteraan Sosial (INDEKS), which partners with both FNF and Atlas Network, to attend the 2024 Asia Liberty Forum. This event was held on 20-21 September in New Delhi, India, hosted by the Center for Civil Society (CCS). My presence increased the number of INDEKS representatives at the event to three people, where the presence of two colleagues was fully supported by Atlas Network. This is the largest number of INDEKS representatives in ALF since INDEKS' first participation in 2018.

Carrying the theme "Empower", the 2024 Asia Liberty Forum presented a concept that was innovatively different from preceding years. This time, in addition to large sessions attended by all participants, there were additional parallel sessions which boasted a variety of topics; allowing attendees to choose topics most relevant to their needs. Facilitation methods were also used more extensively, providing more opportunities for participants to share views or raise questions. At the same time, the 2024 Asia Liberty Forum maintained its trademark reception and hospitality sessions, which allowed attendees to get to know each other and expand their networks throughout the event.

Making Our Vision a Reality

The first day began with a breakfast and social gathering session in 07.30. Lasting around one and a half hours, it allowed attendees to get to know each other and familiarize themselves. This session continued with welcoming remarks from CCS and Atlas Network, followed by Cornerstone Talks which took place from 09.00 to 10.30. Five speakers presented a number of inspiring learning materials in this session, namely Noor Netusha Nusaybah (Islam and Liberty Network, Malaysia) on "The Forgotten Roots: Islam and the Foundations of Economic Freedom", Milind Mhaske (Praja Foundation, India) on “Democratizing Urban Governance”, Alissa Marianne Rode (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Malaysia) on “Local Communities and the Demand for Democracy”, Ilkan Dalkuç (Daktilo1984, Turkey) on “Shaping Public Opinion At the Age of Disinformation”, and Kumar Anand (Centre for Civil Society, India) on “CCS Academy: 27 Years & 12,000 Alumni Later”.

After the morning break session, the event continued with concurrent sessions held in two different rooms which took place from 11.00 to 12.00. Attendees were given the option to attend either one of the two topics: 1) "Defending Democracy—Strategies to Address Rising Illiberalism"; and 2) "Empowering Change—From Training to Policy Success." I, myself, attended the first topic, which I think is very relevant to the situation INDEKS is currently facing in Indonesia. In this session, two speakers shared their experiences and tactics in addressing increasing illiberalism in democratic practices in their respective countries, namely Sujan Regmi (Pokhara Research Centre, Nepal) and Noor Netusha Nusaybah (Islam and Liberty Network Foundation, Malaysia).

At 12.00, the audience enjoyed "Luncheon", a lunch session accompanied by casual conversations between two speakers, who shared their inspiring stories in campaigning for the ideas of freedom. Based on the fact that today's Asian population is dominated by young people, Angela Arnante (Foundation for Economic Freedom, Philippines) and Rida Yumn Ahmed (Students For Liberty /Ladies Of Liberty Alliance, LOLA), shared their innovative strategies in winning the hearts of young people and equipping them with the ideas of classic liberalism, so that they could become future advocates for a freer world.

After the "Luncheon" and break sessions, there were still two sets of concurrent sessions that attendees could choose from from midday to evening, which took place at 14.00-15.00 and 16.00-17.30, respectively. The two sessions that I attended were "Lesson in Leadership" which presented Anton Rizki (Center for Indonesian Policy Studies) and Patrick Mardini (Lebanese Institute for Market Studies), and "Enhancing Regional Collaboration to Uplevel Impact" which presented Rainer Heufers (Center for Indonesian Policy Studies), Dhananath Fernando (Advocata Institute, Sri Lanka), Arpita Nepal (Samriddhi Foundation, Nepal), David Emanuel Andersson (National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan), and Courtney Welch (Atlas Network). While the first session was conducted in an interview format, the latter session was conducted in a facilitation format.

The first day ended with dinner accompanied by a spirited conversation between Tom G. Palmer (Atlas Network) and Gurcharan Das, an author and former CEO of Procter & Gamble India. The conversation explored how free market principles have brought sustainable growth and prosperity to Asia, with many inspiring stories from India's experience. Gurcharan believes that liberalism will remain alive because it contains values ​​that empower humans which have been proven to work. However, he also provided a critical account of the challenges of liberalism in India, which seems to be relatively exclusive, lacking local roots, and inadequate in creating enough employment opportunities to improve the standard of living for many Indians.

All the sessions that took place throughout the first day highlighted the many valuable experiences of economic freedom and personal freedom advocates on how to make our vision a reality in more effective ways.

Delving into Strategy with Several Case Studies

Most of the sessions on the second day featured presentations of case studies that captured the successful campaigns of a number of Atlas Network partners in Asia and the strategies they developed.

An introductory session was held to highlight the three case studies that the attendees could choose from, namely “Advocacy to Ease the Motorbike License in Province 1” by Basanta Adhikari (Bikalpa-an Alternative, Nepal); “Attracting Foreign Investments in the Renewable Energy Sector” by Maria Charina Ubarra (Foundation for Economic Freedom, Philippines); and “Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership Action Plan”, by Anton Rizki (Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, Indonesia).

I, myself, attended the "Case Study on "Attracting Foreign Investments in the Renewable Energy Sector" session which, in my opinion, is in line with the challenges of today's world which will increasingly require renewable energy. This session was very interesting because it opened up insight into market-based approaches that can contribute to meeting energy needs while at the same time maintaining environmental sustainability.

After the concurrent sessions, the audience enjoyed another "Luncheon", which this time was accompanied by project proposal presentations from three think tanks competing in the "Think Tank Shark" competition, namely Namini Panditha (The Liberal Youth Movement, Sri Lanka) with “Liberating Minds, Transforming Nations: LYM's Revolution from Grassroots to Policy”; Manish Acharya (Nepal Center for Integrated Development) with “Community Accelerator Initiative”; and Sujan Regmi (Pokhara Research Centre, Nepal) with “The Launchpad: Own Your Future”.

After the "Luncheon" and break sessions, attendees were again given the option to attend two of the four concurrent session topics throughout the afternoon. The first concurrent session that I attended was "Results Lab" which presented three stations, namely "Engaging Hearts & Minds” with Grauben Lara and Dennis Jose (Students For Liberty, India), “Organizational Capacity and Growth” with Alex Cordell and Dhananath Fernando (Advocata Institute, Sri Lanka), and “Public Policy Advocacy” with Casey Pifer and Anthea Haryoko (Centre for Indonesia Policy Studies, Indonesia).

Next, after the afternoon break, I attended the second concurrent session with a topic that I found very challenging, namely “Championing Freedom and Dignity: Policy Pathways for Gender and Sexual Minorities.” Hosted by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation South Asia, this session took place in a panel discussion format, featuring Premnath C. Dolawatte, Attorney at Law and Member of Parliament (Sri Lanka); Namgay Tshering, Former Minister of Finance (Bhutan); Akkai Padmashali, Indian National Congress (India); Plaifah Kyoka Shodladd, Member, Parliamentary Committee on Same-Sex Marriages (Thailand); and Parakram Rana, Digital Content Creator (Nepal). They discussed the current landscape of LGBTQIA+ related policies in Asia, including political and social barriers and several ways to improve liberty, human dignity, and democracy.

A critical question was asked by a participant from California, United States, who asked how far the government could actually intervene in business in the name of protecting the rights of sexual minorities. The questioner does not challenge each person's right to themselves, including in determining sexuality and gender. What matters is if it means the government can regulate who should and should not be served, which is actually the right of property and business owners.

Tom G. Palmer, who delivered the concluding remarks of this session, emphasized that continuous communication, which extends friendship and takes into account the diversity of contexts, is necessary to increase mutual understanding about the rights of each person that need to be respected and protected, including the rights of sexual and gender minorities.

The 2024 Asia Liberty Forum closed with the Liberty Dinner. Apart from giving the 2024 Sir Antony Fisher Achievement Award to Dr. Parth J. Shah, founder of CCS, for his 25 years of service in grassroots classical liberalism activism, the Liberty Dinner also announced the winner of the "think tank shark" competition, namely Namini Panditha from The Liberal Youth Movement, Sri Lanka, and the winner of the 2024 Asia Liberty Award, namely the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Malaysia.

There are always valuable lessons that I can take away from every Asia Liberty Forum that I have attended. Thank you Atlas Network and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for collaborating with INDEKS, which has brought substantial development both for me personally and for INDEKS as a civil society organization that promotes civil liberties, economic freedom and inclusive diversity in Indonesia.