Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) was founded in 1925 as the political legacy of Germany´s first democratically elected president, Friedrich Ebert. Since the beginning of the foundation's work in South, Southeast and East Asia, the FES has focused on promoting democracy and strengthening the social dimension of economic development. In the past few years, the FES has also promoted international dialogue within Asia as well as between Asia and Europe; in particular, the issue of crisis prevention has become a key focal point in the work of the foundation.

In its work the foundation co-operates with a number of governmental institutions, trade unions, political parties, social movements, NGOs, media and scientific institutions, as well as international organizations. Click here to read more about our activities in Asia and the Pacific.

The 7th Asia-Europe Roundtable Workshop – Early Warning Systems in Minority Conflicts
20-21 May 2010, Singapore

The Asia-Europe Roundtable (AER), a joint initiative by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, the Asia-Europe Foundation and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, is a series of fora that aims to examine Asia-Europe experiences and cooperation in tackling common challenges such as region-building and conflict management with a view to identify and share good practices on solutions to common or contrasting challenges. Building on the findings from the previous AER, it was agreed upon that the existing frameworks and mechanisms lack the provisions to specifically prevent the outbreak of ethno-political conflicts. In order to prevent conflict from developing into widespread violence, a sound Early Warning System would be needed to flag the potential rising of ethnic minority conflicts. Based on this recommendation, the 7th AER workshop met in Singapore on 20-21 May 2010 with the objective to develop a framework for preventing ethnic conflict through a range of mechanisms at the regional level. Eight Asian and European experts in the field of conflict prevention, ethnic minority conflicts and peace building met over two days to work towards developing a regional early warning framework that would not only draw attention to the impending outbreak of minority conflict but also compel the relevant players to act towards preventing such a conflict.

Briefing Report on the Outcomes of the Conference on "Energy Security in Southeast Asia and beyond – from Competition to Cooperation? Civil Society’s Stake in Asia’s and Europe’s Energy Policy”

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, in partnership with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University hosted a conference titled "Energy Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond – from Competition to Cooperation? Civil Society’s Stake in Asia’s and Europe’s Energy Policy" from 20 to 22 October 2009 in Singapore. This event was particularly timely, in view of the twin-pillared global energy challenges Asia and Europe are currently facing, namely increasing energy consumption needs and climate change. The conference served as a common platform for policymakers and civil society organisation (CSO) representatives from Asia and Europe, specialising in the field of energy security, to discuss pertinent issues and share regional insights related to the roles of CSOs in energy policymaking processes. A sustainable, low-carbon, development path can no longer operate without taking into account the increasingly important roles of CSOs in the energy policymaking process. Ultimately, CSOs strive to improve governance through the empowerment of the general public; enhancement of government transparency and accountability; and to complement states’ capacities in providing energy security to the people. CSOs’ involvement in the field of energy security, revolving around "3As" – awareness, action and advocacy – was a recurring theme throughout the conference. The conference also served to highlight the continued relevance and significance of increased CSO engagement in energy security.

In general, participants agreed that CSOs would play an increasing role in energy security in the foreseeable future, especially in Asia where governance deficits in some countries had more often than not obstructed effective energy policymaking. In the later part of the conference, participants engaged in lively brainstorming sessions on the trajectory of CSOs’ activities in the field of energy security and mapped out ideas which could better position CSOs in augmenting the governments’ roles in energy policymaking. Interesting initiatives, from seeking ways to forge an integrated framework for CSOs involved in energy policymaking to advocating local energy self-reliance at community levels, were thoughtfully conceived by the participants. Conference presentations, as well as the background papers and the briefing paper on the outcomes of the conference can be downloaded here.

Trade Unions, Employer Organisations and Labour Ministers established tripartite dialogue at ASEAN level

During the ASEAN Summit, more than 60 representatives of the ASEAN Services Employees Trade Union Council (ASETUC) met on October 24th, 2009, at the Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok with their social partners from the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (ASEAN SLOM), the ASEAN Secretariat as well as the ASEAN Confederation of Employeers (ACE) for their first tripartite dialogue at the ASEAN level. During this meeting, cooperation between these three partners of social dialogue was mutually developed and further collaboration was agreed upon. Before this tripartite dialogue, unionists from ASETUC - which consists of member-organisations UNI APRO (services sector), BWI AP (construction and forestry sectors) and PSI AP (public services sector) - reviewed the results of the assessment-study "ASEAN Economic Integration and its Impact on Trade Unions and Workers" (find here as download) which was conducted by an expert research team over a period of two months.

Together, the participants agreed upon a joint communiqué "Bridge the Gap: The Workers´ Voice in ASEAN Integration" (download here), which was discussed on the second day of the conference with ASEAN SLOM officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) represented by APINDO, Indonesia and ECOT, Thailand and the ASEAN Secretariat led by Dr Donald Tambunan. The conference was jointly organised by FES Regional Trade Union Program Asia & Pacific and ASETUC.