The Asian Leadership Forum (ALF) is one of

EROPA’s key responses

to the ever-changing challenges of public ad-

ministration and govern-

ance. Leaders involved in

policy-making are invited to share their experiences

and insights to the

EROPA community. The first ALF was held in

Kathmandu, Nepal in

2010.

This year’s ALF, chaired

by no other than Asian Association for Public

Administration President

Dr. Akira Nakamura, fea-

tured three speakers namely: Professor Yasu-

yuki Kitawaki of Josai

University, Japan; Direc-tor Kanit Sangsubhan of

Fiscal Policy Research

Institute from Thailand; and Vice Chancellor Ak-

wasi Asabere-Ameyaw of

University of Education from Ghana.

The 2nd Asian Leadership

Forum centered around the theme, “Dealing with

Fiscal Retrenchment:

Strategies, Innovations, and Ways Forward.”

Volume 1 , Issue 2

EROPA’s 2nd Asian Leadership Forum

Dealing with Fiscal Retrenchment:

Strategies, Innovations and Ways Forward

22 February 2012

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Subtheme 1 2

Subtheme 2 4

Subtheme 3 5

ALF Discussion 6

Day 2 in Pictures 12

DAILY BULLETIN

S I M U LTA N E O U S S E S S I O N S — C H A I R P E R S O N S

Conference Sponsors

SUNHYUK KIM

KOREA UNIVERSITY, KOREA

TAWEESAK SUTHAKAVATIN

NIDA, THAILAND

PONLAPAT BURACOM

NIDA, THAILAND

Professor Ponlapat Bura-

com of the National Insti-

tute of Development Ad-

ministration (NIDA)

served as the moderator for

the session.

Dr. Weerasak Krueathep

of Chulalongkorn Univer-

sity started his presentation

by asking a hypothetical

question: if you have a

small amount of money,

what would you do with

it? Would you spend it or

save it?

In his presentation on

“Municipal Responses to

Fiscal Austerity: The Thai

Case” Dr. Krueathep la-

mented the dearth of local

finance literature in Thai-

land; thus there is not

much information about

the Thai fiscal structure

and its behavior. Based on

existing literature in other

countries, he noted three

strategies for fiscal re-

trenchment, particularly

for local governments:

expenditure cut, revenue

enhancement, and institu-

tional/managerial improve-

ment.

Based on the survey ad-

ministered to Thai munici-

pal government officials,

Dr. Krueathep found that

between the fiscal period

2009 and 2010, there was a

decline in the level of

spending by the various

tiers local government in

Thailand. Larger cities cut

their spending massively

as against smaller munici-

palities. (cont. on page 6)

www.twitter.com/

EROPA1960

Page 2

P L A N N I N G A N D B U D G E T I N G F O R C A P I T A L I M P R O V E M E N T S I N T H A I M U N I C I P A L I T I E S : P R O B L E M S I N T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F T H A I M U N I C I P A L S E L F - G O V E R N I N G C A P A C I T Y

S U B T H E M E 1 : F I S C A L R E T R E N C H M E N T : C H A L L E N G E S , O P P O R T U N I T I E S A N D I N N OVA T I O N S I N P U B L I C A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Dr. Wongpredee provided

an overview of the capital

investment among Thai

local governments, and

argued that despite 10

years of decentralization

they have been quite pas-

sive in terms of capital

investments. He further

noted that the study was

intended to find out

whether the Thai Ministry

of Interior (MOI) has an

effect relative to this ob-

servation. (cont. on p

Dr. Sudhipongpracha then

continued with the presen-

tation by noting that the

focus of their study …

cont. on p. 6

Drs. Tatchalerm Sudhi-

pongpracha and Achakorn

Wongpredee of NIDA pre-

sented their paper on

“Planning and Budgeting

for Capital Improvements

in Thai Municipalities:

Problems in the Develop-

ment of Thai Municipal

Self-Governing Capacity.”

Volume 1 , Issue 2

M U N I C I P A L R E S P O N S E S T O F I S C A L A U S T E R I T Y : T H E T H A I C A S E

Daily Bul le tin

Professor Akio Kamiko,

Dean of the Graduate

School of Ritsumeikan

University, Japan, pre-

sented his paper entitled

“Ways for Local Govern-

ments to Survive in the

Period of Budget

Squeeze.” He briefly pro-

vided a general picture of

the fiscal condition of the

Japanese government cit-

ing that the current govern-

ment spending level of

Japan reaches about 200%

of its GDP, perhaps much

worse than Greece and

other debt burdened devel-

oped nations. However,

the case of Japan is far

different from other coun-

tries as its debts are drawn

from private savings

(internal financial market)

and that the interest rates

are low. In Japan, the rapid

growth in the 1980s, low

level of inflation, progres-

sive taxation structure

have abated the negative

effects fiscal situation in

real terms.

Within the context of de-

centralization, according to

Professor Kamiko, local

governments in Japan wear

two hats–that of the central

government branch office

and that of an autonomous

government. He noted that

the main challenges in pur-

suing budget squeeze are

the legal requirements,

parties concerned sense of

right to public budget, per-

sonnel expenses, debt ser-

vice and public works.

Generally, local govern-

ments in Japan borrow for

capital investments. He

also pointed out that debt

financing is pursued exclu-

sively for capital invest-

ments;

by reducing public works,

it does not necessarily

make the budget less tight.

(cont. on p. 11)

Page 3

P O L I C I E S F O R S E C U R I N G S O C I A L E N T E R P R I S E S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I N T I M E S O F F I S C A L R E T R E N C H M E N T

W A Y S F O R L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T T O S U R V I V E I N T H E P E R I O D O F B U D G E T S Q U E E Z E

terprise which could be

seen as a response to fiscal

retrenchment.

Dr. Hayllar reiterated what

most of the speakers have

said about the global finan-

cial crisis–its impact on

both developed and less

developed countries. He

also noted that people ac-

tually no longer trust their

governments and that with

the global crisis, the disad-

vantaged people are more

likely to be affected at a

greater scale.

Dr. Hayllar observed that

the current situation has

led to several incidences

of unrest …(cont. on p.11)

The final paper of the ses-

sion “Policies for Securing

Social Enterprise Sustain-

ability in Times of Fiscal

Retrenchment” was pre-

sented by Dr. Mark Rich-

ard Hayllar. At the outset,

he clarified that he was not

talking about local govern-

ments and fiscal retrench-

ment but about social en-

Join EROPA and become eligible to join the EROPA Experts and Practitioner (EROPA ExP) roster. Go to

www.eropaexp.com for more details.

Pananda Chansukree, a

Doctorate student from

Thailand’s National Insti-

tute of Development Ad-

ministration, presented her

quantitative study on Poli-tico-Economic Institutions and Economic Perform-

ance: Evidence from East

Asia and Latin America, 1990-2009.

In her quantitative re-

search, Chansukree asked

two important questions:

“How do the political and

economic institutions of a

country affect its economic

performances?” and “What

is the appropriate structure

of politico-economic insti-

tutions for economic de-

velopment?”

Chansukree used variables

such as those related to

economic growth, unem-

ployment, poverty and

income inequality, and

found that East Asia had

higher scores than Latin

America across almost all

variables. Latin America,

however, fared better in

protection of property

rights and economic free-

dom.

Furthermore, the findings

showed that governance

was more important than

democracy (cont. on p.10)

The Asian Leadership Fo-

rum (ALF) is a platform for

policy leaders in the Asia

Pacific region to discuss important issues in Public

Administration. This is a

venue for ministers, vice-

ministers, parliamentarians,

governors, city mayors, and

other high ranking govern-

ment officials who can

share their respective views

in the field. Dr. Akira Naka-

mura, who was Professor at

the Meiji University and a long-time member of

EROPA, is the brain-child for

the institutionalization of this

activity.

The First Asian Leadership

Page 4

T O W A R D D E M O C R A T I C - D I S T A N C E : F O R E C A S T I N G H O W S P E C I F I C E V E N T S P R E D I C T S T A B L E G O V E R N M E N T S I N E M E R G I N G C O U N T R I E S

S U B T H E M E 2 : T H E RO L E O F T H E S TAT E I N M A N AG I N G N E W C H A L L E N G E S : O P P O R T U N I T I E S A N D I N N OVAT I O N

narrative of all states, there

would be tipping points

and derivative events that

would eventually caused

marginal alternation. The

author continued that said

alterations were building

blocks toward a state’s

final structure.

Saye, however, was quick

to point out, that the so-

called final structure was

just applicable to certain

periods because societies

were continuously evolv-

ing. Saye asked whether

democracy was the “end”

societies require or was it

just stable governments

regardless of form. In

doing, the author proposed

a continuum of full de-

mocracy, (cont. on p.10)

Lisa Saye’s research To-ward Democratic Dis-

tance: Forecasting How

Specific Events Predict Stable Governments in

Emerging Countries intro-

duced a concept of causal-

ity which attempted to pin-

point countries’ situation

in the continuum of de-

mocracy. In a nut shell,

Saye explained that in the

Volume 1 , Issue 2

P O L I T I C O E C O N O M I C I N S T I T U T I O N S A N D E C O N O M I C P E R F O R M A N C E : E V I D E N C E F R O M E A S T A S I A A N D L A T I N A M E R I C A , 1 9 9 0 - 2 0 0 9

Forum, which focused on

the theme “The Need for

Leadership Development,”

was held in Kathmandu, Nepal coinciding with the

EROPA Seminar. Speakers

in the first ALF were Mr.

Hitoshi Kimura, former

member of the House of

Councilors of Japan, Dr.

Francisco Duque III, Chair-

A B O U T T H E A S I A N L E A D E R S H I P F O RU M

man of the Philippine Civil

Service Commission, Dr.

Jiang Wu, President of the

Chinese Academy of Per-sonnel Science, and Dr.

Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Gov-

ernor of the Nepal Rastra

Bank.

Daily Bul le tin

The first speaker Dr.

Yuexia Miao, Chinese

Academy of Personnel

Science, China, presented

Building a Special Talent

Zone (STZ): Challenges

and Opportunities of Local

Government Innovation in

China—The Wuxi Case,

which is regarded as an

institutional innovation in

China.

Dr. Miao compared the

main features of Special

Economic Zone and Spe-

cial Talent Zone in the

case of China. He pro-

posed that approaches to

reform undertaken by

these two zones are quite

different. For example, in

case of the special eco-

nomic zone, the top-down

approach of the central

government delegating

economic management

power to local govern-

ments was dominant; as

for STZ, the bottom-up

approach of local govern-

ments applying for rights

of talent management in-

novation from the central

government is the distin-

guishing feature. The au-

thor showed his firm belief

that building STZ brings

new opportunities for local

government innovation.

He cited examples from

Chinese (continued on p.7)

Thailand.

Dr. Phinaitrup initiated her

presentation by introduc-

ing the cluster policy in the

development of small and

medium size enterprises

(SMEs) in Thailand which

has been a milestone for

improving their competi-

tive advantage. She ex-

pressed her opinion that

The third speaker Dr.

Boon-Anan Phinaitrup, of

the National Institute of

Development Administra-

tion, NIDA, Thailand, pre-

sented her treatise on En-hancing SME Competitive-ness by Using Cluster Ap-

proach: A Case Study of Western Region Organic Vegetable Cluster in Nak-

hon Pathom Province in

innovation creates competi-

tive advantage by finding

and accepting new ways of

doing things for better pro-

duction. She further added

that innovation can be mani-

fested in improvements in

technology, better ways of

doing things, and product or

process changes.

(continued on p. 10)

Page 5

I N T E R - M U N I C I P A L C O O P E R A T I O N I N S E R V I C E D E L I V E R Y : T R A D I T I O N A L C O L L A B O R A T I V E P U B L I C M A N A G E M E N T R E E X A M I N E D

SU B T H E M E 3 : I N N OVAT I O N S I N P U B L I C S E RV I C E D E L I V E RY

E N H A N C I N G S M E C O M P E T I T I V E N E S S B Y U S I N G C L U S T E R A P P R O A C H : A C A S E S T U D Y O F W E S T E R N R E G I O N O R G A N I C V E G E T A B L E C L U S T E R I N N A K H O N P A T H O M P R O V I N C E

portant is joint coopera-

tion. He focused on the

major challenges face by

local governments today.

He cited the example of

the conventional notion

regarding the transfer of

authority from central to

local government units,

which indeed help increase

both the values and stature

of government. However,

he identified weak policy

and management capaci-

ties of local governments

which have served as bar-

riers leading to significant

improvement in the wel-

fare of people through

decentralization. (cont. p.7)

The second speaker, Dr.

Masao Kikuchi, Meiji Uni-

versity, Japan, presented

his paper on Inter-

Municipal Cooperation in

Service Delivery:

“Traditional” Collabora-

tive Public Management

Reexamined. His paper

tried to explore how im-

“Decentralization

is a key area of

democratic

governance.” - Dr.

Masao Kikuchi

B U I L D I N G A S P E C I A L T A L E N T Z O N E : C H A L L E N G E S A N D O P P O R T U N I T I E S O F L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T I N N O V A T I O N I N C H I N A – T H E W U X I C A S E

Of the retrenchment ex-

perience, he observed that

municipal governments

hardly employed any re-

trenchment strategies when

they have large amount of

reserves; while those with

large amounts of debt, find

themselves in a situation

where they feel the need to

do something.

Dr. Krueathep also found

some evidence in line with

common-pooled resources

literature in Rodden (2002,

2006) that among other

things being equal, local

authorities that are hard

put in their tax efforts are

more likely to adopt reve-

nue enhancement strate-

gies in the midst of eco-

nomic crisis and localities

with a high degree of re-

source self-dependency are

more apt to maintain their

financial prudence.

He further indicated that

Thai cities are running at a

fiscal risk and that the re-

cent fiscal adjustments

may not have adequate

long lasting impact. In his

opinion, Thai local govern-

ments tend to save them-

selves first and put the

people last, which is in

contrast with what is ob-

served in the western

countries. He reiterated the

fact that the Thai fiscal

structure did not encourage

fiscal discipline and that

the Thai local government

need more autonomy from

the central government so

as to maintain a better fis-

cal discipline and financial

system.

Responding to questions

from the audience, the pre-

senter clarified the issue of

tax/revenue structure. Thai

local governments have

only about 9% of own

source revenues. As such,

there is a need to reform

the revenue structure and

give local governments

more power to generate

revenues. The presenter

also noted the fact that the

tax system in Thailand

needs further refinement

and the country is yet to

implement more meaning-

ful property tax system.

Mr. Min Yang of the Japa-

nese Local Government

Council in Singapore

asked if there were any

key performance indicators

that the Thai central gov-

ernment uses in allocating

inter government fiscal

transfers. To which the

presenter answered in the

affirmative, stating that

although Thailand has no

income per capita measure

at the local level, the cen-

tral government has been

using population size, size

of local government area

and level of gross provin-

cial product. According to

the presenter, in practice

the system was not well

developed since there ex-

ists a limited number of

indicators.

that there was no intention

to establish a relationship

between the Thai local

government and those in

the US. He further indi-

cated that nepotism is not

really noticeable in the US

system vis-à-vis Thailand.

Professor Michael Sinclair

from Toronto, Canada,

asked whether debt financ-

ing is being pursued by

local governments in Thai-

land. Dr. Sudhipongpracha

of local government to the

central government. The

presenters recommended

more transparency and

reduction in central gov-

ernment control over local

governments.

Dr. Thanapan from NIDA

asked whether the authors

were trying to compare

Thai local governments

with those of the USA as

regards to lobbying. Dr.

Sudhipongpracha re-

sponded clearly stating

indicated that local govern-

ments in Thailand could

only seek debt financing

with the approval of the cen-

tral government.

Page 6

P L A N N I N G A N D B U D G E T I N G F O R C A P I T A L I M P R O V E M E N T S … C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 2 )

M U N I C I PA L R E S P O N S E S … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 2 )

was on municipal local gov-

ernments – the second tier of

the Thai local government

structure. He indicated that the

study centered on two propo-

sitions: i) that compared to

other types of local govern-

ment, Thai municipalities re-

lied more on central govern-

ment grants and transfers for

their capital projects; and,

ii) that there was a relation-

ship between the Thai munici-

palities’ passivity about capi-

tal investment and the central

government agencies’ domi-

nant role in the decentraliza-

tion process.

He argued that after 1998

which was the first year after

decentralization, Thai munici-

palities relied heavily on the

central government for financ-

ing capital investments. It is

highly politicized as well.

Thus, the municipalities are

constrained to perform their

administrative functions, pub-

lic services and discretionary

powers; they remain under the

control of the MOI.

In his presentation, Dr. Sudhi-

pongpracha decried the fact

the even after 10 years the

central government have still

not taught the municipalities

the ropes of governance. He

further noted that municipali-

ties are discouraged to pursue

capital investments due to the

inconsistencies of the Office

of the Auditor General in en-

forcing the accounting and

auditing procedures. He also

observed that MOI lacks clear

standards and regulation,

which has exacerbated “pork

barrel” and clientistic attitudes

“Thai cities are

running at a fiscal

risk and that the

recent fiscal

adjustments may

not have adequate

long lasting

impact”

Volume 1 , Issue 2

Daily Bul le tin

local governments which are enjoying the successful experi-ence of talents gathering zones. There has been a practice of or-ganizing all related departments

such as personnel, foreign affairs, industry and commerce, tax and custom to carry out ‘one-stop’ service to high-level talents. Despite the successful movement of the Wuxi municipal govern-ment since the institutionalization

of STZ in 2006, the author under-lined some critical obstacles such as: talents flow, talents evalua-tion and talents incentive. He also pointed out a visible gap that has appeared between the Wuxi City local government and developed areas in terms of financial service

and innovation support. In order to address aforemen-tioned issues, the author recom-

mends to change local govern-ment roles from talent regulation to talent service strategy with distinct characteristics. It was emphasized that STZ is all about

finding the right people for the right job. It is a shift from eco-nomic management approach into government intervention for talent management. Finally, the author suggests that local gov-ernments in various regions can innovate talent management

mechanisms by creating dy-namic, efficient and more open talents environment at local levels. He concluded that geo-graphical diversities can be an advantage if local governments explore more flexibility and develop special talent policies

through talent exchange and cooperation programs.

Page 7

I N T E R - M U N I C I P A L C O O P E R A T I O N … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 5 )

B U I L D I N G A S P E C I A L T A L E N T Z O N E … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 5 )

that the national government tried to give incentives to mu-nicipal governments to promote inter-municipal cooperation. Nonetheless, municipal amalga-

mation did not attain all its promised sufficiency especially in rural areas. The author also tried to show international examples of inter-municipal cooperation citing examples of Europe and Asian

countries like Indonesia. He remarked that inter-local coop-eration scheme has been gaining momentum internationally as an alternative to service delivery. Dr. Kikuchi expressed his firm belief that decentralization gives

local government more discre-tionary power in the delivery of public services. In Japan, Inter-Municipal Cooperation was adopted as one of the strategic options towards collaborating with other municipalities for better services. Highly needed

critical success factors may come in the way of (great) politi-cal/administrative leadership.

Dr. Kikuchi explained three ways to innovate public service deliv-ery, namely: New Public Man-agement, Municipal Amalgama-tion, and Inter-Municipal Coop-

eration. He mentioned empirical evidence showing that collabora-tive management can yield great benefits for local governments. The author highlighted on what is often overlooked: that there are significant numbers of inter-

municipal cooperation cases in decentralization. He examined in his paper that inter-municipal cooperation in service delivery in Japan is a traditional collabora-tive public management. He also revealed the continuum of inter-municipal cooperation to collabo-

ration in Japan. An interesting point he mentioned is that as a result of Japanese local govern-ments recently experiencing mu-nicipal amalgamation, they (i.e. municipalities) dramatically dropped in number. It implies that local governments in Japan

still depend on inter-municipal networks in service delivery. However, he quickly emphasized

During the 2nd Asian

Leadership Forum, Profes-

sor Yasuyuki Kitawaki

from Josai University de-

livered a paper entitled

New Public Commons-A Financial Retrenchment Method in Japan. The talk

focused on Japan’s efforts

toward fiscal reconstruc-

tion, Kitawaki’s experi-

ence in fiscal retrenchment

during his tenure as Mayor

of Hamamatsu City, and

the New Public Commons.

Kitawaki began by provid-

ing Japan’s financial situa-

tion and how it compared

to the international stage.

According to the former

Mayor, Japan’s fiscal con-

dition was the worst

among major developed

countries. He added that

the problem of fiscal dete-

rioration could be traced

back to the continuous rise

of government expendi-

tures and revenue decline.

While he was a Mayor of

Hamamatsu city, Kitawaki

shared the need for fiscal

management in line with

the country’s midterm fis-

cal plan. Aside from intro-

ducing administrative and

financial reforms, Ki-

tawaki also shared that

public accounting methods

being used by the private

sector was also applied in

the local government.

(continued on p.9)

(ICT), and street-level bu-

reaucracies.

Dr. Asabere-Ameyaw said

that aside from the chal-

lenges, opportunities were

also present. With regard

to globalization, he said

that leadership barriers

which existed only some

decades ago had already

been broken. The advent

of ICT had also brought

University of Education

Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ak-

wasi Asabere-Ameyaw

from Ghana began his talk

by pointing out that public

administration had always

been met with challenges

in terms of globalization,

resource management, and

motivation, employment,

education, information and

communication technology

job creation while public

sector reforms were being

conducted in almost all

countries around the world.

Expounding further on pub-

lic sector reforms, Dr. Asa-

bere-Ameyaw highlighted

the need for better recruit-

ment of human resources

and finding ways of retain-

ing them. (cont. on p.9)

Page 8

A C A S E O F T H A I L A N D

THE ASI A N L E A DE R S H I P FORU M

D R . A K W A S I A S A B E R E — A M E Y A W P R O V I D E S W E S T A F R I C A N P E R S P E C T I V E

ment.

According to Sangsubhan,

the traditional Locomotive

-Wagon, paradigm

wherein surplus of U.S.

and E.U markets filled the

deficits of South America,

Africa, and Asia, was in

effect prior to the Asian

economic crisis of 1997.

That wagon, the director

explained, was virtually

reversed at the beginning

of the 2008 U.S. crisis in

the sense that Asia and the

Middle East began filling

the deficits of U.S. along

with South America and

Africa.

Director Sangsubhan, fur-

thermore, said that 2012 is

a very important year be-

cause various elections ...

(continued on p.9)

The paper A Case of Thai-land, prepared by Director

Kanit Sangsubhan of Fis-

cal Policy Research Insti-

tute, was delivered during

the Asian Leadership Fo-

rum. According to the di-

rector, the paper was

guided by the recent eco-

nomic downturn, its spiral-

ing effect in many coun-

tries, and Thailand’s ex-

perience in fiscal retrench-

Volume 1 , Issue 2

N E W P U B L I C C O M M O N S — A F I N A N C I A L R E T R E N C H M E N T M E T H O D I N J A P A N

Daily Bul le tin

would be held around the

world. This meant that in-ternational relations and

policies might be affected

with the pending change in

government heads.

Focusing on the Thailand

experience, Sangsubhan said that the government

employed a fiscal stimulus

package as well as a quasi-fiscal policy to counter the

global financial crisis. The

stimulus package aimed to

reduce the impact of the crisis and to improve the

country’s competitiveness.

Toward the end, Kitawaki

provided the audience an

overview of the New Pub-

lic Commons. In a nut

shell, the New Public

Commons represent in-

vigorating nonprofit sector

and developing social

capital; fostering social

and public human re-

sources; public service

innovation; utilizing local

resources under new ideas;

economic activities based

on sympathy and commit-

ment; and the private sec-

tor’s organized public sup-

port.

Aside from those, he also

talked about improving the

reward system for those

who were in public institu-

tions. He explained that

when these had been an-

swered, providing new

trainings and security to

staff members should be the

next priorities.

While improvements on

public policies should be

done, Dr. Asabere-Ameyaw

highlighted that strengthen-

ing civil society groups was

also an utmost imperative.

Page 9

N E W P U B L I C C O M M O N S … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 8 )

IN PI CT U R E S : TH E ASI A N LE A D ER S H IP F ORU M

On the other hand, the quasi-fiscal provided fast

track credit and another

monetary stimulus to re-duce interest rates and in-

ject liquidity to the econ-

omy.

A C A S E O F T H A I L A N D . . . ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 8 )

D R . A K W A S I A S A B E R E — A M E Y A W ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 8 )

will be hosting the EROPA

Conference this 2012!

The author found out that

the benefit of clustering not

only contributes as a tool to

increase competiveness but also enhances the ability to

innovate. For example, she

identified that the consum-

ers would pay special atten-

tion to fresh fruits and vege-

tables (particularly those

containing toxic residue)

because farm products are

usually consumed freshly,

rather than cooked or proc-

essed. As a result, in 2003, a group of small farmers and

exporters initiated the clus-

tering concept in order to

respond to and to adapt

themselves to meet custom-

ers’ needs and to be able to

survive and compete in the

market.

Dr. Phinaitrup also men-

tioned the strategy of boost-ing market competitiveness.

For example, her study cap-

tured how farmers learned

to apply the cluster concept

to their businesses and how

to grow vegetables safely.

She emphasized that cluster-

ing is seen as a tool for

competitiveness by setting

up a business cluster. She

further highlighted how the concept has helped entrepre-

neurs in the Western Region

Organic Vegetable Clus-

ter—for making better

awareness of and encourag-

ing them to study changing

market systems. The author

revealed the success story of

transferring knowledge to

and among farmers resulting

in the production of safe and high quality vegetables

meeting international stan-

dards.

Dr. Phinaitrup addressed

concerns surrounding

China’s dominance in world

vegetable production vis-à-

vis pricing sensitive mar-

kets. She countered that in

order for local markets to successfully compete in the

world marketplace, we need

to adopt the Porter Diamond

Model.

tures as democracy had

sometimes brought miser-

ies and troubles. Nepal’s

Dr. Kayo Devi Yami made

another interesting com-

ment when she discussed

how developed countries’

dictate emerging states in

terms of employing de-

mocracy. One representa-

tive from Turkey put for-

ward the idea that while

limited democracy, stable

government without de-

mocratic elements, hybrid

model, and even an

“other” category to truly

capture said continuum.

During the open forum, a

participant from Pakistan

agreed with Saye’s point

that democracy might not

be applicable to all cul-

democracy’s main goal was

to provide stability, dictato-

rial forms of government

could also do the same to

some extent.

Session moderator Sunhyuk

Kim commented that while

it was good to expand the

literature of public admini-

stration by borrowing from

other fields such as biology

Page 10

P O L I T I C O E C O N O M I C I N S T I T U T I O N S … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 4 )

E N H A N C I N G S M E C O M P E T I T I V E N E S S … ( C O N T . F R O M P . 5 )

T O W A R D D E M O C R A T I C - D I S T A N C E … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 4 )

that of comparing eco-

nomic growth of countries

with diverse political insti-

tutions. In this context, the

inclusion of China with the

rest of the East Asian

countries was cautioned as

an anomaly and would

possibly cause skewed

data.

for economic growth, and

that East Asia outper-

formed Latin America in

political institutions, while

Latin America outper-

formed East Asia in terms

of economic institutions.

An important issue raised

during the discussion was

“Democracy should

be the primary

measure of political

institutions.”

Volume 1 , Issue 2

and physics, doing so should

be from a philosophical per-

spective and not just in

terms of semantics.

“What we think as

the essential aspects

of democracy

actually differ from

state to state.”

EROPA is the

Online Regional

Center for the

Daily Bul le tin

‘cap’ system on the total of

debt service cost and capi-

tal expenditure.

Professor Kamiko’s obser-

vation on debt service cost

reduction program seems to

have a general application.

It might be a good practice

for most capital invest-

ments to be financed by

borrowing. This has

worked quite well in Japan

and generally none of the

local governments have

defaulted. \

Professor Kamiko stated

that according to the gover-

nor of Kyoto, they have

been quite successful in

trying very hard to squeeze

its budget; which the cen-

tral government has not

done in a long time. Con-

versely, he warned that

although Kyoto has

achieved a very good finan-

cial standing, problems still

lurk in the horizon. For

instance, there are no fur-

ther rooms for improve-

ment such as IT expansion,

and the Kyoto retrenchment

interventions have the ten-

dency to diminish the econ-

omy.

In conclusion, Professor

Kamiko asserted that Kyoto

prefecture government has

been doing very well. He

noted that in pursuing fiscal

retrenchment at the local

Page 11

market environment but are

different from small scale

enterprises (SMEs). The

objectives of social enter-

prises are in tune with what

the world needs today–the

promotion of education,

fighting social and financial

exclusion among others. As

a solution model, he stipu-

lated that both the local

governments, central gov-

ernments, and the people

have to work together.

To this effect he called for

policies that will encourage

a self sustaining social en-

terprise sector similar to

what is observable today in

Singapore, which has a gov-

ernment vision geared to-

wards helping the disadvan-

taged groups and increasing

public acceptance of social

enterprises. For instance,

they have the ComCare En-

terprise Fund (CEF) which

provides seed grants as op-

posed to loans for start-ups

for social enterprises.

Similar experience may also

be seen in the UK as regards

effort through the UK big

society bank where capital

funds are generated from

dormant private bank ac-

counts and used as equity

funds for social enterprises

at very minimal rates.

Dr. Hayllar emphasized that

the government will have to

play a critical role in speed-

ing up the growth of social

enterprises and that market-

ing is very important. In

conclusion, he stated that

social enterprises are here to

stay. However, much re-

mains to be done to build a

across the world and cited

the recent London riots and

demonstrations in Greece as

manifestations. There is a

ballooning number of youth

and a record of high level

record of unemployment.

He also pointed out some

interesting economic indica-

tors associated with social

unrest; for instance, in inner

London, only 20% of the

people have 60% of the to-

tal income.

Despite of all these prob-

lems, Dr. Hayllar sees op-

portunities from social en-

trepreneurs through pro-

grams like the 2011 Fight-

back UK as well as in Sin-

gapore, Hong Kong and

Australia. According to

him, social enterprises can

lead to economic fightback.

Social enterprises according

to Dr. Hayllar operate in a

W A Y S F O R L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 3 )

However, it may forego

some projects since it is

based on borrowing.

He then zeroed in on the

case of fiscal retrenchment

through what he calls

“budget squeeze” in Kyoto

prefecture. Among the

strategies pursued include:

i) reduction of the number

of clerks in their own of-

fices; ii) taking advantage

of the high number of re-

tirees (due to high birth

rate after the war and

many were at their retiring

age) during the time of

retrenchment period to

further reduce the number

of personnel. Kyoto pre-

fecture also employed a

government level, some

expenditure items are not

possible to cut such as per-

sonnel. However, there are

items which can be

squeezed in the short term –

for instance the mainte-

nance of facilities can only

be put off for a while.

P O L I C I E S F O R S E C U R I N G S O C I A L E N T E R P R I S E S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y … ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P . 3 )

more robust and cohesive

social enterprises sector.

Page 12

E RO PA 2 0 1 1 DAY 2 — I N P I C T U R E S

Volume 1 , Issue 2

Daily Bul le tin Page 13

E RO PA 2 0 1 1 DAY 2 — I N P I C T U R E S

National College of Public

Administration and Governance

Building

Raul P. De Guzman Street

University of the Philippines

Diliman 1101, Quezon City

EROPA Secre tariat

Administration, but also to

ensure the transfer of the

Organization’s values to the

next generation.

“Outstanding Young Practi-

tioner,” on the other hand, is

geared toward recognizing

the contribution of young

practitioners in public ad-

ministration. The award is

geared toward recognizing

one individual from each of

the 10 state members who

have made excellent contri-butions to the field of public

administration despite hav-

ing less than five years of

experience in the public

sector or academe.

Then there is the “Views

from the Frontlines: A Call

for Stories to Share.” Rec-

ognizing the power of sto-

ries in terms of sharing in-

sights and providing inspira-tion to people in the field of

public administration, the

Dr. Orlando S. Mercado,

from the moment he as-

sumed the Organization’s

Secretary General position, has one battle cry: transfor-

mation. Being a 50-year old

organization, he envisions

EROPA to remain relevant

in the field of public ad-

ministration and governance

not only in the Asia Pacific

region but beyond. This

aspiration is highly evident

in EROPA’s future plans

and programs.

One such example is the

“Online Youth Network”

which will provide student

groups and individuals an

online platform wherein

they can come together and

share knowledge and infor-

mation. Serving as an exten-

sion of the online presence

of EROPA, the Youth Net-

work not only aims to en-courage the youth to be en-

gaged in activities in Public

Call for Stories puts the

spotlight on real-life, actual

stories that are happening

around the region in the realm of public administra-

tion and governance told

from the point of view of

those in the frontlines of the

public sector and govern-

ance.

Aside from those already

mentioned, EROPA also

plans to continue expanding

its network. For instance, the Organization and the

Institute of Public Admini-

stration of Canada or IPAC

have recently entered into a

memorandum of agreement

that will enable the two to

share research, information,

experience, and skills.

E R O PA ’ S F U T U R E P L A N S A N D P R O G R A M S

Telefax: +632 929 7789

Email: eropa.secretariat@gmail.com

Reaching Farther Moving Faster

Building a Community of Scholars and Practitioners

EROPA

www.eropa.org.ph

www.facebook.com/EROPA1960

Dr. Tippawan Lorsuwan-narat

Chair, Conference Orga-

nizing Committee

Rapporteurs

Dr. Suchitra Punyarata-bandhu

Head Rapporteur

Dr. Kasemsarn Chot-chakornpant

Henrik Thies

Coordinators

Amokwu I. Theophilus Chesca Sebastian

Fareedali Kanji

Jose Angelito Aurelio

Jose Tiu Sonco II

Mukunda Mani Khanal

Ryan Advincula

Team Members

GRAB A COPY OF

THE EROPA

BULLETIN FREE!

GO TO WWW.EROPA.ORG.PH

AND DOWNLOAD

NOW!