NEWS: Successful launch of "ASEAN Policy Forum" in Phnom Penh
- PRIME
- Mar 29, 2016
- 4 min read
Last month Phnom Penh played host to the first ASEAN Policy Forum, including a lineup of Cambodian and international speakers (including Dr Dan Mitchell) addressing a crowd of about 80 students and young professionals.
This was the first major event hosted by the Professional Research Institute for Management and Economics (PRIME), an independent institute that focuses on economics and public policy with the aim of promoting prosperity, freedom, and happiness. Despite the relatively short preparation time, the policy forum exceeded expectations.
Held on a Friday evening at Orchidee Restaurant, guests were treated to four hours of intellectual stimulation with thought-provoking presentations by eminent speakers from around the world, and plenty of opportunities for networking. Guests also received copies of Peace, Love, Liberty and The Morality of Capitalism, as well as recently released research reports on trade, education, and regulation, but the highlight of the night was the discussion of new ideas. Presentations covered a number of policy challenges, with the main themes including:
The importance of detailed policy analysis that looks beyond the immediate and intended effects, and also considers the indirect and unintended consequences;
The link between economic freedom and economic development; and
Education policy reform ideas, such as vouchers that help poor children attend private schools.
The event also included three student presentations, with Lim Sorsmey (Royal University of Law and Economics), Chhun Ngychanraksmey (Royal Univerity of Phnom Penh), and Noun Uksa (National University of Management) talking about their ideas as part of the Cambodian Policy Reform Competition.
The ASEAN Policy Forum benefited from national and international partners. The Malaysian Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) is one of the best think tanks in the ASEAN region, and we were honoured to host their Chief Executive Officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan as a special guest, talking about the benefits of international trade.
Thanks to the generous support of the Atlas Network and Build Cambodia, a large number of student scholarships were available. The Youth Council of Cambodia helped to spread the word to students and young professionals, while the University of Management and Economics (Kampong Cham) and the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) also supported the move to set up the ASEAN Policy Forum.
The keynote speaker for the evening was American economist Dr Dan Mitchell from the Cato Institute, who spoke at length about the links between economic freedom (low tax, international trade, secure private property) and prosperity.
We were also delighted to have Cindy Cerquitella from the US-based Atlas Leadership Academy (part of the Atlas Network) as a guest speaker, who shared some of her extensive experience dealing with think tanks from around the world.
In addition to prominent international speakers, the ASEAN Policy Forum also included innovative policy thinkers from Cambodia. Well known policy commentator Ou Virak (founder of the Future Forum) urged young Cambodians to join the battle of ideas instead of just demanding vague notions of change. Echoing the points made by earlier speakers, Virak stressed that good policy is only possible if there are dedicated, detailed, and objective policy analysts who are willing to test every policy suggestion and challenge old ideas.
The other Cambodian speaker was economist and entrepreneur Khem Panha, the founder and CEO of Tisa schools, which is aiming to offer international quality education without the international price tag. Building on his own experience as well as careful policy research, Panha spoke in both English and Khmer about the idea of school vouchers as an alternative to the failing public school system.
The final two speakers were ex-pat policy analysts. Tom Pearson is Director of the Master of Law program at the Royal University of Law and Economics, and he spoke briefly about the fascinating phenomenon of budget private schools that have been discovered around India, Africa, and elsewhere. Lastly, PRIME Executive Director John Humphreys spoke about some recent PRIME research regarding the impact of regulation on small-medium enterprises, and how regulation often ends up helping big business and hurting small business.
At the end of the night, the inaugural ASEAN Policy Forum was a success -- bringing together an interesting mix of international & local speakers and a curious crowd, reviewing old ideas and exploring new policy suggestions, providing policy depth for experts and inspiration for the next generation of policy thinkers. Plans are already under way for the next ASEAN Policy Forum.
There was a lot of new information to digest from the different speakers. The arguments made by Khem Panha about school vouchers and Dan Mitchell regarding economic freedom will hopefully spark discussion, debate, and further study, but the most important lesson from the night was not about any particular policy. First and foremost, the next generation of Cambodians need to think critically and skeptically about policy suggestions, and go beyond the easy rhetoric of retail politics to look deeper at the complex and unintended consequences of public policy.
ASEAN Policy Forum details:
Hosted by PRIME, co-sponsored by CIPS, IDEAS, UME-KPC, YCC, Atlas Network, Build Cambodia.
Time: Registration from 5pm, presentations from 6-9pm, end at 10pm.
Date: Friday, 12 February 2016
Cost: Presentation, books, documents, dinner, and drinks for $10 (adults) or $5 (students)
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