Southeast and East Asia
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) promotes democracy, human rights, economic freedom, and curbing climate change. In Southeast and East Asia, we have offices in Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul, Taipei, and Yangon. We also work in Malaysia. The FNF regional team works with the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, the Working group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, the Asia Centre, and the ASEAN Prosperity Initiative, which is part of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. Should you have questions or suggestions about our work, please contact us. You can also meet our team here.
News
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After Trump 2024— What’s Next For Filipino Liberals?
“Dutertismo is to the Philippines what Trumpism is to America,” observes political economist Calixto Chikiamco. Like its American counterpart, the Duterte movement emerged as a populist backlash against entrenched elites and the failures of traditional governance. For many, Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency was a visceral rejection of a system perceived to prioritize the few over the many. As the Duterte family eyes a potential political resurgence in 2025 and 2028, Filipino liberals confront a stark challenge: how to counteract the enduring appeal of populism in a fractured political landscape.
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AI in Elections in East and Southeast Asia
The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats has published a new policy paper: “AI in Elections in East and Southeast Asia: Opportunities, challenges, and ways forward for democrats and liberals”.
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Regulatory Challenges for MSMEs in ASEAN
Malaysia´s Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) have launched the “ASEAN Integration Report 2024”. The seventh edition of this annual report focuses on barriers that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) face in cross-border trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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Empowering Women in Politics in Southeast and East Asia “Women-Up Democracy” Conference
Read up on our "Women-Up Democracy" on October 28 at Chatrium Grand Bangkok! Together more than 150 leaders, activists, and students unite to share stories, foster solidarity, and drive change in politics.
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How Public Participation Can Improve AI Governance: vTaiwan’s Initiatives
The civic tech project vTaiwan has gained international attention for its design of effective public participation mechanisms, which has led to the facilitation of over 20 legislative reviews in Taiwan. Most notably, in 2019, the platform hosted an online deliberation leading to regulatory adjustments for the ride-hailing platform Uber in Taiwan. In 2023, vTaiwan was relaunched as a community-based project. Now, they use their proven participatory approach to tackle the challenge of inclusive AI governance.
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Business, Human Rights, and Unexpected Laughs in Gummersbach (and Cologne and Berlin)
From Sept 15-27, our IAF seminar on Business & Human Rights featured Ms. Umavathni Vathanaganthan from Malaysia, sharing regional insights. Read her full reflection here.
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Women-Up Democracy Speakers
Our Women-Up Democracy event on October 28th, 2024, will bring together inspiring speakers who are making a significant impact in the fields of gender equality and democratic leadership.
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For a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination: International Women’s Day 2022
In 2022, let’s acknowledge women’s achievements and raise awareness against bias: #BreakTheBias.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) wants you to meet five extraordinarily brave women in Southeast and East Asia to celebrate Women’s Day.
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“Pounding the rock”: the legacy of the late Filipino human rights defender Chito Gascon
A documentary produced by FNF Philippines and Rappler tells the story of the late Commission on Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon’s legacy in the fight for democracy and human rights.
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ASEAN in disarray
Consensus-based policies and unity are supposed to be the hallmarks of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Now a freewheeling ASEAN-chair has plunged the regional block into a crisis of unity and direction.
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Media Freedom in Southeast Asia Report is out
Media Freedom in Southeast Asia: Repeal Restrictive Laws, Strengthen Quality Journalism is a collaborated project between Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Southeast and East Asia and Asia Centre to research through the situations that affected journalism in this region.
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World’s largest free trade agreement kicks off
From January 1st, 2022 on, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will govern trade between China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including the major economies of Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.
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Young People & Cryptocurrencies – a Revolution of Digital Natives
Young people, digital natives, have been attracted to cryptocurrencies as a way to make easy money. Investing in crypto sounds easy but comes with associated risks. In order to support the youth to understand underlying risks, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Southeast, and East Asia Office, held a two-day workshop, the Crypto Revolution, with 27 students from the region.
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Elections in Hong Kong: What choice do the people have?
On 19 December, HK is electing a new legislative council. This is the election that should have taken place in 2020, and that was postponed amid claims of pandemic concerns. Since then, a new election law has been passed – and people in HK have less of a choice than ever. Freiheit.org interviewed MR Charles Mok, a former LegCo Councillor, about this upcoming election, what it means for HK and where the city is going from here.
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API ASEAN Integration report 2021 is released
Economic Freedom is one of the main topics that we give a close attention to, especially in ASEAN. The process of ASEAN Economic integration is still so far to be fully completed. On this noted, our regional partner IDEAS Malaysia is the organization that monitors such process under the project name ASEAN Prosperity Initiatives. This year, API ASEAN Integration report was published as a project of the yearlong research on the economic integration.
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IAF-Seminare 2025
Seminars -
AI in the super election year - revolution or familiar threat in a new guise?
Artificial Intelligence -
Strong sign for free trade from Montevideo, but still too early for champagne corks
EU-Mercosur Agreement -
New Directions in Brussels: From a Geopolitical to an Investment Commission
Europe