Economic Freedom: A Liberal Strategy for Development

The objective was to understand that economic freedom is an essential element of market economy especially for the transforming economies of South Asia. High level economists, researchers, academics and journalists from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were taken to Europe. The programme design incorporated discussions on ideas of economic freedom on one hand, and interactions with institutions engaged in implementing these ideas, on the other hand.


In Berlin, the participants had the opportunity to visit and interact with different organizations representing the state, the private-sector and think-tanks. Participants visited the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology to understand the German Economic Policy, and interacted with representatives from different departments. In a visit to the Deutsche Bahn, they learnt the complex process of the reform strategies of privatizing the Deutsche Bahn (German Railroads), a state-owned enterprise. The deliberations at the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of German Industries addressed the issue of economic freedom of SME’s in conducting business. The role of credit institutions in corporate funding was discussed with the representatives of the KfW Bank. Visiting the Market Economy Foundation (Stiftung Marktwirtschaft), the group was able to interact with an independent think-tank on the issue of economic freedom in Germany.

The highlight of the Berlin visit was the visit to the German National Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) to interact with the advisor for economic policy of the FDP Parliamentary Group to understand and know the economic policy portfolio of the German Liberal Party (FDP).

Moving on to Brussels for the second part of the programme, the group had interactions with a liberal MEP (Member of European Parliament) at the Brussels office of the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung. The role of regional level institutions (EU) in decision making was understood in discussions with representatives of the European Commission. Moreover, the participants learnt the achievements and challenges of the European Single Market through enabling competition (the example of Microsoft Europe) and the liberalization of European market sectors (the example of energy market) during interactive sessions with different representatives of the European Commission.