NEWS

A New Lens on Economic Freedom in ASEAN

Prosperity around the Southeast Asia region has risen fast in the last 50 years. More and more countries have moved away from communist and socialist economic policies, and instead opted for market-driven policies. Myanmar, long one of the most isolated economies, has opened up. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have moved decisively away from communist systems and especially Vietnam is now […]

Trade in goods and services, and foreign direct investments (FDI) are improving in most member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). However, economic relations within ASEAN could be further strengthened. As of 2017, Intra-ASEAN trade in goods is only 22.6% even lower than 2015 (23.5%), services is at 16.58%, only slightly up from 2015 (16.46%). […]

“The basic idea of liberalism is that governments and societies should aim at giving more freedom to all the members of society,” said Dr. Ronald Meinardus, Regional Director for South Asia at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF). “We believe that if you support economic freedom, you support development. If you are developed, more people will live a life […]

The business trend towards automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence gives a notion of job losses. But the latest number in Germany, for instance, shows up to 90% of companies are looking for people. There is caveat, however. Digital skills are necessary to qualify. “We are seeing a gradual and evolutionary transition to digital business models. Naturally, businesses want to […]

Data is central in the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. Given this, how does Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impact companies’ competitiveness? As Industry 4.0 increases the value of data, integrating processes through data networking, GDPR’s impact comes further to light. The regulation, which came into effect on 25 May 2018, guarantees protection of personal data. While the […]

“We were invited to Singapore, and we were asked how we could help maintain business competitiveness in the country. We responded that we can help in the area of Industry 4.0. We were then told by the Singaporeans that they didn’t want Industry 4.0, which anyone can offer. They insisted on the German version Industrie 4.0,” narrates German business development […]

“When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will,” quoted Suraj Vaidya, Chairman of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). Vaidja cited French economist Frederic Bastiat’s statement to highlight the importance of free trade in a region overshadowed by political conflicts. Vaidya warned of the dangers of violent extremism in his keynote address at the Asian Liberty Forum (ALF) held […]

The Comprehensive Tax Reform Program or more popularly known as TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) which was recently signed into law in the Philippines has caused further divide on whether it would really benefit the poor as it had envisioned. It his recent opinion piece on BusinessWorld, Nonoy Oplas, President of Minimal Government Thinkers, a member-institute of EFN […]

India has over 1.5 million schools catering to 260 million students. Private schools enroll 43% of students. In the last four decades, Budget Private Schools (BPS) have proliferated dramatically in India with parents increasingly choosing to pay for quality education. An estimated 92 million children are enrolled in BPS. BPS are critical in improving education quality and access at affordable […]

Many people have long argued that quantitative economic measures, such as GDP, have an inherent gender bias because they often fail to capture the economic condition of women. Fraser Institute, which publishes the internationally renowned Economic Freedom of the World, recently adjusted its index to account for gender inequality. This recognizes the fact that institutions that protect economic freedom are […]