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(May 17, 2008/ Belfast, Northern Ireland) The Council of Asian
Liberals and Democrats (CALD), with the support of the
Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan (DPP) and the Taiwan
Foundation for Democracy, organized a network meeting together
with their Latin American counterpart, the Red Liberal de
América Latina (RELIAL).
The objectives of the meeting, among others, were to share the
best practices and lessons learned by the organizations, to
highlight the effective strategies to further promote liberal
principles, and to compare useful notes on the successful
programs initiated over the years. Among the topics discussed
were the common challenges of liberal organizations and the
strategies to tackle them, the approaches to the strengthening
of member political parties, and the tools to further promote
the liberal agenda.
Mr. Otto Guevara, president of RELIAL and member of Partido
Movimiento Libertario in Costa Rica,
emphasized the importance of engaging with the resources of
think-tanks to cultivate and improve research on pertinent
global issues. According to him, it is important to provide a
data base of liberal policies where CALD, RELIAL and other
liberal institutions can always tap on.
Dr. Neric Acosta, secretary general of CALD, noted that CALD as
a regional grouping has not only served as a common ground for
mutual exchange and collaboration, but has also become a venue
for enduring friendships and solidarity. This showed also where
CALD and RELIAL should be headed, he mentioned.
At the end of the day, the participants came into agreement that
organizations such as CALD and RELIAL should continue to seek
greater regional cooperation by capitalizing on the support of
networks across regions that share common challenges and vision
to provide sound liberal measures and solutions to pressing
economic and political problems.
Among the participants from RELIAL were:
Mr. Eynar de los Cabos from Partido Nueva Alianza in Mexico; Mr.
Jaime Salinas from Partido Justicia Nacional in Peru; and Ms.
Paola da Silva from Colombia, president of the International
Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY). Also in atendance were
representatives from Fundacion Libertad del Paraguay.
Representatives from CALD were: Hon.
Ivy Arago, MP and Hon. Glenn Chong, MP from the
Liberal Party of the Philippines;
Ambassador Kasit Piromya, director of foreign affairs department
of the Democrat Party of Thailand; Hon. Sam Rainsy, MP, leader
of the Cambodian opposition and president of the Sam Rainsy
Party (SRP); Mr. Jean-Pierre Roth, SRP
member based in France; Hon. Tesundo Iwakuni, MP,
director general of the international department of the
Democratic Party of Japan; Ms. Swarna Amaratunga from the
Liberal Party of Sri Lanka; Mr. Maung Maung, secretary general
of the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB); Mr. Win
Hlaing from the National League for Democracy Burma; and DPP
delegates Ms. Bikhim Hsiao, director of the DPP international
affairs department, Mr.
Twu Shiing-Jer, Ms. Pingya Hsu, and
Mr. Michael Fonte.
CALD and RELIAL were honored to also have the representatives of
the Friedrich Nauman Foundation (FNF) namely:
Mr. Manfred Richter, Member of the Board, Mr. Harald Klein, head
of the international department and
Mr. Hubertus von Welck, regional director for East and Southeast
Asia. With the support of FNF, CALD and RELIAL were able to
achieve their status as leading liberal alliances in their
respective regions. A luncheon hosted by DPP and its chair, Mr.
Frank Hsieh, followed at the historic Crown Bar in downtown
Belfast.
This is the third meeting between CALD and RELIAL. The first was
in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2005 and the second was in Marakech,
Morocco in 2006.
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