In a news brief on CAAI News Media (Cambodia) about students from the Royal University of Law and Economics winning the fourth annual Mock Trial Competition, The Asia Foundation’s support for legal education training in Cambodia is mentioned. Read the full article: “U.S. found winners for Cambodian students on Mock Trial.”
Radio Australia features a broadcast about the conference on regional migration in Asia held in Phnom Penh last week. Quotes from The Asia Foundation’s Program Officer for Counter Trafficking in Persons Project Louise Rose on the issue of Cambodian men being trafficked onto fishing boats in Thailand and Malaysia are featured. Listen to the interview or read the full transcript: “The dangers in trafficking Cambodian men.”
In a Phnom Penh Post article about report findings presented at a conference on regional migration, The Asia Foundation’s Program Officer for Counter Trafficking in Persons Project Louise Rose is quoted on the statistics surrounding Cambodian migration to Thailand. Read the full article: “Poverty and family debt fuel male migration to Thailand.”
In a USAID press release announcing the religious leaders conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on “the role of religious and community leaders in advancing development in Asia,” The Asia Foundation is credited for co-hosting the three-day event March 21-24. Read the full article: “U.S. Sponsors Bangladesh Conference for Religious and Community Leaders on Advancing Development in Asia.”
In an article in the Phnom Penh Post about a new forum on Facebook started by the Cambodia Women in Business to act as a gathering place for Cambodian businesswomen to discuss their problems and encourage business growth, The Asia Foundation is mentioned along with the International Finance Corporation for producing a 2009 study on the business climate in Cambodia. The study’s findings helped inform the Facebook initiative. Read the full article: “Women see Facebook as a recipe for business success.”
On an Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Connect Asia program about South Korean president Lee Myung Bak’s two-day visit to Cambodia and the rising interest in investment in Cambodia, comments from The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Economic Programs in Cambodia Veronique Salze-Lozac’h are featured. Listen to the program: “Car factory drives South Korean investment in Cambodia.”
In response to growing demand, The Asia Foundation will make the raw firm-level survey data from its Vietnam (2006-2008), Cambodia (2006 and 2008) and Indonesia (2007) Economic Governance Indexes (EGI) available to the public upon request, along with their accompanying survey instruments, user guides, and codebooks.
As the primary data source for The Foundation’s EGIs, these surveys collect information about local government regulations and how they impact private sector development. The data contain valuable information that will help expand research and analysis in the areas of good governance, growth, and private sector development.
The data also provides relevant economic governance information to policymakers, business leaders, and citizens. This information creates demand for an improved business environment among the private sector and provides local and national leaders with information about best practices as they seek to improve economic policies.
To request the data or for more information, visit The Asia Foundation’s Economic Governance Index page or contact Nina Merchant, Assistant Director, Economic Reform & Development, at nmerchant@asiafound.org.
In an article in the Phnom Penh Post about a new Asian Development Bank report released yesterday that warned that Asian economies are unlikely to be able to export their way out of the global economic crisis, findings from The Asia Foundation stating that 90.4 percent of Cambodian firms have fewer than four employees, and 96 percent fewer than 10, are cited. Read the full article: “Asia can’t export its way to recovery: ADB.”
A Phnom Penh Post article about concerns that ongoing tensions at Preah Vihear temple have caused a sharp drop in commerce on the border at Poipet, cites findings from The Asia Foundation’s Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES) survey. Read the full article: “Border clashes blamed for Poipet downturn.”
Today, The Asia Foundation announced the appointment of Gavin Tritt as Country Representative in Cambodia. He succeeds Roderick Brazier, who served as the Foundation’s Country Representative from 2006 to May 2009.
An expert on governance, counter-corruption, and education in Asia, Mr. Tritt joined the Foundation in 1993 as a program officer for economics in the Foundation’s Center for Asian and Pacific Affairs.
From 1999-2002, he was the Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in the Philippines, where he developed and managed programs, including in economic and counter-corruption reform. Mr. Tritt also managed the Pacific Economic Outlook project. For the following six years, as director of the Foundation’s Books for Asia program, Tritt oversaw the dramatic expansion of the program, which now donates one million books a year throughout Asia. During his tenure, the number of book donations tripled and the program expanded to provide books and educational materials to Afghanistan, India, and Bhutan. Tritt then moved from the Books program to serve as director of the Foundation’s Governance programs. In this capacity, he led the design and implementation of programs on counter-corruption and local governance, as well as the Foundation’s strategic planning and evaluation efforts.
Tritt holds a B.A. in East Asian studies from Yale University and a M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University.
Read more about The Asia Foundation’s projects in Cambodia. For media inquiries, please visit the Press Room.
An article in The Phnom Penh Post features highlights from The Asia Foundation’s Inter-country Consultative Dialogue conference in Phnom Penh on anti-trafficking and features quotes by Nandita Baruah, The Asia Foundation’s Chief of Party for the Counter Trafficking in Persons Project (C-TIP). Read the full article: “Multilateral treaties needed to end flesh trade, say delegates.”
In a San Jose Mercury News article about human trafficking in Vietnam and Cambodia, The Asia Foundation’s contact details are provided as an organization “working to prevent human trafficking among Vietnam’s poor.” Read the full article: “Globalization’s ugly side: sex slavery.”
In an article in The Phnom Penh Post about the hurdles construction companies face as a result of Cambodia’s bureaucratic licensing process, findings from The Asia Foundation’s Provincial Business Environment Scorecard survey are cited, and The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Economic Programs in Cambodia Veronique Salze-Lozac’h is quoted. Read the full article: “Report blasts builder burden.”
An Agence France-Presse wire story about the launch of a UNDP study on Cambodia’s competitiveness in the global economy cites findings from The Asia Foundation’s Provincial Business Environment Scorecard survey released on Monday. Read the full story: “UN says overhaul needed of Cambodian workforce.” Further coverage of the survey’s findings are featured in a Phnom Penh Post article in which The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Economic Programs in Cambodia Veronique Salze-Lozac’h is quoted. Read the full article: “Business climate gets low marks.” View a PDF of the survey.
The Provincial Business Environment Scorecard in Cambodia: A Measure of Economic Governance and Regulatory Policy
In order to understand how provinces are contributing to or preventing business growth, the International Finance Corporation and The Asia Foundation have collaborated in developing the Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES). PBES 2009 ranks all 24 provinces on the quality of their economic governance. The Scorecard, which was first conducted in 2006 in 10 Cambodian provinces, and in 2009 covers all 24 provinces, relies largely on the perceptions of business leaders to generate a scorecard that ranks provinces on measures of business environment quality.
An in-depth excerpt of a speech made by The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Cambodia Roderick Brazier appears in The Phnom Penh Post, during which he reflects on the changing political and economical environment in Cambodia and the achievements of the Cambodian People’s Party that he has witnessed during his tenure there. The speech was make on April 24 to the American Cambodian Business Council. Read the full article: “A future in the balance.”
An op-ed written by Roderick Brazier, The Asia Foundation’s Representative in Cambodia, on next week’s Cambodia elections was published in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. Read the full piece, entitled “Cambodia at the Ballot Box.”
Brazier was also quoted in coverage of the upcoming elections in a variety of other media outlets including articles in the International Herald Tribune, ABC News, and ABC Radio Australia, and audio interviews with ABC Radio Australia and Radio Singapore.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by The Asia Foundation’s Marielle Sander-Lindstrom, Chief of Party, Counter Trafficking in Persons Project (C-TIP), about Cambodia’s first-ever national efforts to collect standardized data on human trafficking. Trafficking statistics are notoriously difficult to gather, and consistent, accurate data and analysis will help ensure that Cambodia’s policies and programs respond to real needs.
Berkeley, CA – March 26, 2008
Palo Alto, CA – March 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA – March 28, 2008
Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2008
The Asia Foundation has pioneered a tool called the local “Economic Governance Index” (EGI) as a way to measure business-friendliness of local governments in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The EGI highlights provinces most open to private enterprise and least encumbered by red-tape when it comes to business set up, for example: entry and licensing costs, inspections and registration waiting periods, transparency, access to training and legal institutions.
The governments of these provinces have embraced the EGI as a tool to help them measure local reforms and government performance, and there has been public increased attention when index standings are announced, resulting in competition among provinces. As a result, businesses and entrepreneurs have begun to see it as a useful means of deciding where to put businesses. A team of economic experts are hosting a series of programs this Spring on this compelling index. We hope you are able to join one of the presentations.
Bruce Tolentino, Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs at The Asia Foundation, San Francisco
Edmund Malesky, Asia Foundation partner and Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego
Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, Regional Director of Economic Reform and Development Programs, The Asia Foundation, Cambodia
Neil McCulloch, Director of Economic Programs, The Asia Foundation, Indonesia
Berkeley – Wednesday, March 26, 2008: 10:00 am-1:00 pm, lunch included
UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Library
109 Moses Hall, U.C. Berkeley Campus, Berkeley
Co-sponsored by Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, and Institute of Governmental Studies
Palo Alto – Thursday, March 27, 2008: 4:30–6:00pm
Stanford University’s Donald L. Lucas Conference Center
Corner of Galvez and Serra Streets, Stanford University Campus, Palo Alto
Co-sponsored by Stanford’s Center for International Development
San Francisco – Friday, March 28, 2008: noon–2:00 pm, lunch included
The Asia Foundation’s Haydn Williams Conference Room
465 California Street, 8th floor, San Francisco
Co-sponsored by Cal-Asia Business Council
For Bay Area events listed above, please reply by March 19, 2008 to rsvp@asiafound.org or 415 743-3347 with your name, affiliation, contact information, and the location/date of the one EGI presentation you would like to attend.
Washington, D.C. – Tuesday, April 1, 2008
For more information about the Washington D.C. event, please contact The Asia Foundation’s Washington office at rsvp@asiafound-dc.org.
Space is limited at all locations.
You will be sent a confirmation within 2 business days of your request.
Cambodia’s government has announced it will use a biannual index by The Asia Foundation as an indicator to measure the country’s business-friendliness.
The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce announced on February 11, 2008, that the Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES) will, going forward, be used as a reform and monitoring tool in assessing Cambodia’s economic growth.
“The PBES is a good indicator of where efforts should be concentrated to improve specific areas of the business environment,” said H.E Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister, Ministry of Commerce. “It can also indicate over time where reforms have been successful and where tangible improvements have been achieved.”
A partnership of The Asia Foundation and the International Finance Corporation’s Mekong Private Sector Development Facility, the PBES draws on the perceptions of the business community to rank provinces according to how business-friendly their policies are. Tracking the progress of provincial economic governance over time creates incentives for local officials to undertake reforms that will improve the overall competitiveness of their respective provinces.
First released in 2006 as a study of 10 provinces, the next PBES will be published in late 2008 and cover all 24 of Cambodia’s provinces.
The Asia Foundation also currently conducts similar studies of economic governance in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines.
View all materials related to The Asia Foundation’s economic programs in Cambodia.
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