Wealth Creation and Sustainable Development

RAJIVA WIJESINHA is the President of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka and Professor of Languages at the University of Sabaragamuwa. He received his PhD at Oxford University, UK.

SURIN PITSUWAN is a Member of Parliament of Thailand (Democrat Party) and, currently, UN Commissioner for Human Security. He is formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs during the term of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and was the founding chairman of CALD.  He taught at Thammasat University and worked as a columnist for The Nation and Bangkok Post. He received his PhD at Harvard University, USA.

WOLF-DIETER ZUMPFORT is Vice Chairman of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. He is a former Member of Parliament of Germany (Free Democratic Party). He received his PhD in Economics at the University of Kiel, Germany.

WERNER HOYER is a Member of Parliament of Germany (Free Democratic Party) and President of the European Liberal Democratic and Reform Party (ELDR). He is formerly Minister of State in the Foreign Office. He received his MS and PhD in Economics at the University of Cologne, Germany.

The Honourable RANIL WICKREMISINGHE is the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. (Please refer to the attached profile.)

SANAULLAH BALOCH is a Senator in Pakistan and an official of the Balochistan National Party.

MEDHI KRONGKAEW is Director of the Center for Poverty Studies of the National Institute of Development Administration of Thailand and Professor of Economics at Thammasat University. He received his PhD in Economics at Michigan State University, USA.

ASHOK V. DESAI is Consultant-Editor of Business Standard (India). He served as Chief Consultant of the Ministry of Finance of India and Economist in the National Council of Applied Economic Research in Delhi.

SAM RAINSY is a Member of Parliament of Cambodia (Sam Rainsy Party) and Leader of the Opposition. He is a former Minister of Finance of Cambodia. He received his Masters in Economics from the Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Economiques de Paris and Masters in Business Administration at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

DATO S. VIJAYARATNAM is a Senator in Malaysia and Vice Chairman of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.

W.D. LAKSHMAN is Professor of Economics and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo. He was also Senior Economic Lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He received his PhD in Economics at Oxford University, UK.

ANNY WONG is Political Scientist at the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Studies. Her research interests include international relations and political economy in the Asia Pacific, Japanese foreign policy and domestic politics, aid diplomacy, and science and technology. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii as an East-West Center Grantee.

GERHART RAICHLE is former Director of the Liberal Institute of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

CHEE SOON JUAN is Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party and recipient of the 2003 Defender of Democracy Award of the Parliamentarians for Global Action. He was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow and Human Rights Fellow at the University of Chicago. He received his MS in Physiological Psychology and PhD in Neurological Psychology at the University of Georgia, Athens, USA.

P. CHIDAMBARAM is former Minister of Finance of India. Vocally pro-business, he was one of the architects of India’s economic reforms under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

LAKSAMANA SUKARDI is the State Minister for Revenues and State Companies of Indonesia. An official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), he is a former Member of Parliament of Indonesia. He received his degree in Civil Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia.

BI-KHIM HSIAO is a Member of Parliament of Taiwan and Director of the International Affairs Department of the Democratic Progressive Party. She graduated with honours at Oberlin College and obtained her MA in Political Science at Columbia University, USA.

DAVID TAW is the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB). The NCUB is the peak council of Burmese exile opposition organizations, working to achieve democracy in Burma.

AHSAN IQBAL is Chief Coordinator of the Pakistan Muslim League. He is former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

BURANAJ SMUTHARAKS is Deputy Spokesman and Member of the Restructuring and Policy Committees of the Democrat Party of Thailand. He was Secretary and Senior Policy Advisor to former Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. He graduated from the Chulalongkorn University Medical School and received his two MA degrees in Public Health and Health Policy and Management at Harvard University, USA.

FLORENCIO B. ABAD is a Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress and President of the Liberal Party (Philippines). He served as Secretary of Agrarian Reform during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino. He received his Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo de Manila University and Masters of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

JAY-KUN YOO is a Member of Parliament of Korea and Chairman of the National Convention, as well as the Special Committee for Foreign Relations and Cooperation of the Millennium Democratic Party. He received his PhD in Sociology at the University of Washington and Juris Doctor at the University of California, Davis, USA.

UWE JOHANNEN is Regional Director for East and South East Asia of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. He is former Director of the Institute of Politics and International Cooperation in the Foundation’s head office in Germany, coordinating and controlling all FNF activities worldwide. He also served as Member of the German Federal Commission for Foreign, European and Development Policy of the Free Democratic Party. He studied Law, Economics and Political Science and graduated with an MA in Economics.

DESHABANDU KARU JAYASURIYA is the Minister of Power and Energy and Deputy Leader of the United National Party (Sri Lanka). He was Leader of the Opposition of the Western Provincial Council, as well as Mayor of Colombo. He also served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Germany.

MARTIN LEE is Founding Chairman of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong. He was appointed  Queen’s Counsel in 1979, was first elected to the Legislative Council in 1985 and has been re-elected in every election since. He obtained his BA degree at the University of Hong Kong and studied law at Lincoln’s Inn in London.

NIHAL AMERASINGHE is Professor of the Center for Development Management of the Asian Institute of Management and Lead Faculty for the Program and Project Development and Management course of the Institute’s Masters in Development Management Program. He served as Director, Agriculture and Social Sectors Department of the Asian Development Bank. He received his Master of Arts in Economics and Social Studies at the University of Manchester, and Master of Arts in Environmental Management and PhD in Economics at the University of London.

SHASHI RAJAGOPALAN is a Consultant for Rural Development and Cooperatives and is currently working with the Cooperative Development Foundation of Hyderabad, India.

TAKUYA TASSO is a Member of Parliament of Japan (Liberal Party). He received his MA in International Relations at John Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA.  

MADHU KISHWAR is Senior Fellow at The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and Founding Editor of Manushi.

REMA DEVI NAIR is Consultant for Trade and Economics of Consumers International – Asia Pacific Office. She received her BA in Sociology (Honours) and MPhil in Human Development at the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

MOHAMED ARIFF is Executive Director of the Malaysian Institute for Economic Research. He was Chair of Analytical Economics at the University of Malaya, where he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration. He received his PhD in Economics at the University of Lancaster, UK.

JAVED AHMAD is President of the Liberal Forum of Pakistan. Also known as Jami Chandio, he is Editor In-Charge of daily Ibrat, Hyderabad.

NISA XUTO is Secretary-General of the Public Affairs Foundation of Thailand and Professor at the Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

ERNESTO D. GARILAO is Professor at the Center for Development Management of the Asian Institute of Management and served as its Associate Dean. He is former Executive Director of Philippine Business for Social Progress and served as Secretary of Agrarian Reform during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos. He received his Masters in Management with distinction at the Asian Institute of Management and Masters in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

M.R. SUKHUMBHAND PARIBATRA is a Member of Parliament of Thailand (Democrat Party) and is the CALD Chairman. He is former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand during the term of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. He was also Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations of Chulalongkorn University. He received his PhD at Oxford University.

KEVIN HEWISON is Director of the Southeast Asian Research Center and Professor at the City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include globalization, anti-globalization and social change in South East Asia. He was the Foundation Chair of Asian Studies, University of New England, Australia. He received his PhD at Murdoch University, Australia.

J.R. NEREUS O. ACOSTA is a Member of the Philippine House of Representatives and Vice President for Mindanao of the Liberal Party (Philippines). He received his Masters in International Relations and Political Studies at the Indiana University, USA and PhD in Government and Political Science as an East West Center Grantee at the University of Hawaii, USA. He also holds certificates from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, where he completed an intensive program on policy and leadership in 1999 and on environmental economics in 2002.

LAKSHMAN KADIRAGAMAR is a Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka and the President’s Counsel. He is also special adviser on Foreign Affairs to the President of Sri Lanka and was former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He received his Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at the University of Ceylon and was admitted to the Ceylon Bar in 1955. He also received his Bachelors in Literature at Trinity College, Oxford University, where he was President of the Oxford Union.