Welcome to the EROPA Bulletin Online!
Volume 30, Nos. 3-4: July - December 2009
IN THIS ISSUE
>EROPA Opens General Assembly, Korean Leaders Welcome Participants to Seoul
>Posner, Rosenbaum Address EROPA Conference: Public Administration Lessons Shared
>KOICA President Shares Korea's Roles in Challenging Times
>EROPA Experts Share Public Administration Insights
>EROPA Executive Council Meets in Korea, Approves Reform Initiatives
>Allones is TOYM Awardee
>Loretan Talks About Rethinking Government's Role
>Sto. Tomas Talks About Simplification in Bureaucracy
>EROPA Conducts Training for Government HR Practitioners
>Towards an Advanced Korea: Central Officials Training Institute on the Lead
>Building an Efficient, Accountable and Transparent Civil Service: The Ministry of General Administration at the Forefront
>Public Administration Events
EROPA Conference 2009
>Public Sector Reform in a Time of Economic Downturn
>What Can And Should Governments Do To Make Financial Institutions Work Better: Experiences and Lessons
>Addressing Economic Recessions Through HRD
>Migration and Development: Utilizing Global Labor Force in Combating Economic Recessions
>Strategic Human Resource Development in an Era of Green Growth: Sustainable Human Resources for Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth
>UNPOG Tackels Economic Crisis in Local Governments
EROPA Opens General Assembly, Korean Leaders Welcome Participants to Seoul
The Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) held the opening of its 22nd General Assembly and Conference on 20 October 2009 at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Korea.
His Excellency Dr. Dalgon Lee, Korea’s Minister of Public Administration and Security, and Dr. Jang-Sik Chung, President of the Central Officials Training Institute (COTI) and Chairman of the Korean Organizing Committee for the EROPA 22nd General Assembly and Conference, warmly welcomed the participants to the above-mentioned event.
Minister Lee extended the warm embrace of the Korean people and hoped that the spirit of mutual friendship and respect will continue to strengthen cooperation towards pursuing common concerns of peace, prosperity and unity. He also took the opportunity to express his warm welcome and heartfelt gratitude to EROPA Secretary General Patricia Sto. Tomas, IIAS Director General Rolet Roletan, representatives of EROPA member countries, as well as the delegates from other nations.
Lee shared the importance of reforms in the Korean government as a driver of development and economic recovery, and acknowledged the role of human resources in the process. The development of Korea is due to, among others, the industry and dedication of the Korean people. The Minister said that much attention has been given to investments, not only in technology, but in people development because they always serve as the backbone of the
nation. He also added that human resources will be the main strength in meeting upcoming concerns and challenges.
As the conference was a good venue of knowledge and experience sharing, Minister Lee encouraged policy makers and practitioners coming from the world over to discuss, analyze and learn from the exchange of ideas in bringing reform and improving capacities in their respective bureaucracies and governments.
Meanwhile, in his welcome address, Dr. Chung of COTI, explained to the participants why EROPA and COTI selected the theme for this year’s conference which is “Public Governance in Challenging Economic Times: Human Resource Development at the Battlefront.”
“The theme of the conference was determined in view of the fact that the world is faced with an unprecedented recession,” said Chung. He also emphasized the importance of human resources in addition to the role of government in dealing with this issue.
Dr. Chung extended his appreciation and gratitude to Minister Lee for the latter’s generous support to this EROPA meeting in Seoul. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) is the mother agency of COTI. In addition, Chung, on behalf of the Korean Organizing Committee, thanked the EROPA Secretariat for the support in the event preparations.
Posner, Rosenbaum Address EROPA Conference: Public Administration Lessons Shared
Two of the best and perhaps most popular scholars in Public Administration worldwide spoke as keynote speakers during the EROPA 22nd General Assembly and Conference on “Public Governance in Challenging Economic Times: Human Resource Development at the Battlefront.” Dr. Paul Posner, President of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), and Dr. Allan Rosenbaum, President of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), shared their ideas on the relevance of and issues on Public Administration in this modern era.
Dr. Paul Posner discussed the various problems and challenges facing today’s public administration community in his keynote address entitled “Promise and Challenges Facing Public Administration.” He noted that most nations are looking at common problems given the emergence of a global economy. First citing the old idea that “government is not the solution but the problem,” he moved on to discuss the most incumbent view of government as a protector of its constituents, including the private market, as a result of market failure.
Posner’s speech highlighted the specific issues and emergent challenges and tensions faced by the field of Public Administration at present, particularly in the United States (US). The challenges noted were: the growing complexity of the problems faced where there is involvement of too many actors; the growing policy ambitions of policymakers which are often driven by political motives; the ambivalence about government where dilemma on government’s roles and functions is observed; the limited reach of direct government; rebuilding government management infrastructures; public transparency and confidence where too much transparency may result in distrust in public administrators, particularly when government data are used to rationalize partisan views and positions; and the lack of ability and political will to apply the foresight imperative, like in the case of the 2008 crisis where instability of banking and finance was perceived but no action was taken to prevent a worse scenario.
In view of these challenges, Posner shared his insights on what could possibly be done as solutions and pointed out the important role of public administration education for this purpose. He pursued the idea that public administration curriculums and strategies should be updated, through the inclusion of the following themes: third party governance tools and strategies (dealing with governance challenges through the use of networks); study of private finance and incentives (understanding finances and incentives relative private sector transactions with government); reaching across the Wilsonian divide to focus on the politics of public policy (in view of the importance of policymaking in public management); engaging practitioners in developing the curriculum (to be able to integrate theory and practice); and increasing focus on comparative public administration (as a means to better understand common challenges across nations and learn from others’ successes and failures).
Posner also recognized the important roles of organizations like EROPA, ASPA and IIAS in providing relevant resources for public administrators during difficult times like economic downturns.
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Dr. Allan Rosenbaum delivered his keynote address on “Public Administration in a Post-Governance World: New Challenges, New Approaches” wherein he delved on the issue of preparing public administrators in dealing with the “post governance world.” He examined the foreseeable shift from a “governance” era to the “post-governance” era. Specifically, he discussed the issues presented by new eras, by reviewing some of the significant challenges in terms of the education of the next generation of public administrators. He stressed that these challenges require a renewed attention and focus to the manner in which next generation public administrators will be trained and educated.
Rosenbaum noted that the past three decades have been significant milestones for both the study and practice of public administration. New Public Management, according to Rosenbaum, played a pivotal role in the emergence of the concept and practice of governance which has been promoted by various international organizations as well as domestic political movements. They suggested that we had moved beyond an era in which government sets the ground rules within which societies functioned and moved into a world that encouraged joint relationship between and among the public sector, private sector, and civil society.
However, he noted that the events of the recent past served to remodel that view of the world and call renewed attention to the prevailing reality that government has the ultimate capacity to and reponsibility for molding public administrators in the “post-governance” era.
Rosenbaum concluded by discussing how the report of the United Nations/IASIA Task Force on Standards of Excellence for Public Administration and Training can be a useful tool in preparing public administrators in dealing with the challenges of the “post-governance” world.
KOICA President Shares Korea's Roles in Challenging Times
Dr. Dae Won Park, President of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), emphasized the continuing and heightened role of Korea in the challenging times of global financial crisis and climate change.
The need for sharing Korea’s development experience has been wanting over the years. Park recalled that the current Korean government, with the leadership of President Myung-bak Lee, expressed a diplomatic vision geared towards 1) strengthening economic ties in the region; 2) dealing with global issues; and 3) expanding official development assistance (ODA). Espousing good governance as a critical factor in attaining a sustainable economic development, KOICA expects to triple its account for ODA, which will allow expansion of its development support to developing nations by 2015.
The KOICA President also shared his view that it is indeed necessary to fully support the economic and social development of developing nations. He hoped that the EROPA Conference would contribute to accelerate such development.
Like the other Korean leaders, Park acknowledged the role of human resources in the achievement of development. Hence, he revealed that among the thrusts being pushed by KOICA is the offering of a powerful example of how capacity building and human resource development can push the development process.
Specifically, KOICA endeavors to narrow the knowledge and information gap by sharing Korea’s experiences, technologies, and many other lessons to partner countries. For this purpose, KOICA targets participants from Asia in response to growing demands. It envisages to become more efficient and effective in conducting training courses, as well as post-training activities.
EROPA Experts Share Public Administration Insights
Three of the most renowned experts in Public Administration from the EROPA circle shared their insights on Public Administration relative to the recent economic crunch faced by many countries in the globe. Such sharing of thoughts took place in one of the plenary sessions of the EROPA Seoul Conference. The plenary which focused on “Public Governance in Challenging Economic Times: HRD at the Battlefront” was chaired by Dr. Yong-Duck Jung, President of the Korean Institute of Public Administration (KIPA).
Building Trust by Improving Governance
Dr. Pan Suk Kim of Yonsei University, Wonju Campus in Korea presented his paper “Building Trust by Improving Governance: Searching for a Feasible Way for Developing Countries.”
Kim delved on governance matters that are important in developing trust and confidence. He noted that one way to gain trust and confidence of donor institutions is for emerging economies to have their respective individual, organizational and systems level approaches in dealing with developmental concerns.
He presented more specific approaches in building trust and confidence. Two of the alternatives are the “Good Governance” and “Good Enough Governance” approaches. Dr. Kim believed that the utopian approach may be informative for developing countries, but a caution that it may not work positively should be considered. Therefore, he suggested the good enough approach as a more feasible, more doable and more relevant approach for developing countries. He supported the idea of the “middle ground” between the real and the ideal for the realistic development of third world nations.
The Re-Emergence of Government
Dr. Akira Nakamura of Meiji University, Japan shared his thoughts on the re-emerging role of government as a result of the recent economic downturn. His piece called “Asian Model of Government Re-Examined at the Aftermath of Fiscal Crunch” presented the experience of Japanese government as a case in point, which basically noted the effects of globalization. Such experience is also used by Nakamura as a model for the call for government re-emergence.
Nakamura reviewed the role of the Japanese government, both central and local. He noted that, in the past, Japanese central government was highly involved with the economic affairs of the country and aimed for the development of big businesses. Meanwhile, he noted that local governments dealt with social issues and were viewed as welfare governments trusted by the public. He also viewed Japanese local governments as provider of social services, notable of which is the “bath in the bus,” and as protector of justice that is based on legalism and impartiality. In terms of central government activities vis-a-vis business operations, Nakamura observed that the former served as a protector of the latter, as evidenced by the expansion of Toyota abroad, for example.
The era of big government and business expansion was discussed and this had salient features and objectives including lifetime employment, seniority system, long range planning, employee protection, group orientation and managerial responsibility. The scholar, however, pointed out that the advent of globalization and what he called “cocacolalization” resulted in a market driven expansion which involved deregulation, valuing of stakeholders (stockholders) and not employees, decline in worker protection and short range interests. This situation, according to Nakamura, was later claimed as “government failure.”
In light of the recent economic crunch, Nakamura observed a “market failure” which led him to suggest to “bring the government back in” and this would require the achievement of TAPE - transparent government, accountable management, participatory system and equitable society. Given this, he noted the rising new role of government and the view of government as a solution, not a problem. To do this, Nakamura proposed the necessity of creating a new regulatory regime that would include control of financial transactions and protection of both workers and consumers.
HRD: Imperative for Public Governance in the Challenging Times
Dr. Alex Brillantes, Jr. of the University of the Philippines presented a wide range of topics that underscore the complexity of capacity building and human resource development (HRD) to enable a responsive public governance in the challenging times. He emphasized the need for reforms at different levels and the imperative to contextualize models, concepts, paradigms, approaches and best practices with local conditions.
Brillantes explained that capacity building may be viewed at three levels. These are: 1) policy and institutional level, which pertains to an enabling policy framework and existence of laws and regulations; 2) organization level, which deals with the elaboration of objectives, strategies, structures, processes and procedures, resources, information system, performance measures, etc.; 3) individual level, which looks into the competencies (knowledge, skills, attitude, work ethic) of public sector employees.
The academic surveyed some practices and innovations on HRD in the Philippines, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia and Iran. He noted key lessons in HRD: 1) change management; 2) efficiency and effectiveness in both the public and private sectors, in the global, national and local level; 3) capacity building; 4) technology offering potentials for human resources; and 5) the need to build on the gains (milestones) on HRD and learn from the pains (pitfalls).
EROPA Executive Council Meets in Korea, Approves Reform Initiatives
The 55th Executive Council meeting of EROPA was held at the Central Officials Training Institute (COTI) campus on 19 October 2009.
The Executive Council meeting provided a venue for EROPA’s major decision-making organ to discuss the pressing issues confronting the organization.
Discussions in the meeting focused on the reforms proposed by the EROPA Revitalization Committee, headed by Dr. Akira Nakamura of Japan. Among other things, the committee proposed for a pay hike in the state, group and individual membership, the introduction of an EROPA magazine, establishment of the Raul De Guzman (RPG) Award, the improvement of the Asian Review of Public Administration (ARPA), and the institutionalization of the Asian Leadership Forum (ALF).
The Executive Council approved majority of the proposals. In appreciation of the efforts of Dr. Raul De Guzman as a former Secretary General of EROPA and a long-time mentor and friend of the organization, EROPA will give the RPG Award to the best paper starting in the 2010 Seminar which will be held in Nepal. This is also to encourage bright minds to write and present quality papers in EROPA meetings.
In view of the efforts to improve the ARPA and transform it into an internationally recognized peer-reviewed journal, proposals to have Dr. Pan Suk Kim as new journal editor-in-chief were in place. Dr. Kim cordially accepted the role and is now the chief editor of ARPA (starting in the journal’s 2009 issue).
Dr. Nakamura’s proposal to institutionalize the ALF was also approved and will likewise start in the 2010 Nepal meeting. The ALF is envisioned to be a venue for practitioners and policy makers to have active participation in the discussion of the most relevant issues in policy making and public administration.
EROPA will also introduce a new publication in a magazine format envisioned to be practitioner-friendly as it intends to feature best practices in government administration.
In addition, the meeting gave way for the EROPA Secretariat and the two of its three EROPA Centers--the EROPA Development Management Center (Korea) and the EROPA Local Government Center (Japan)--to report their respective accomplishments to the Executive Council.
Allones is TOYM Awardee
Atty. Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones, Executive Director of the Philippines’ Career Executive Service Board (CESB) received the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for 2009 in the area of Human Resource Development.
The TOYM, which started in 1959, is the country’s most prestigious national award granted to young men and women who have made substantial contributions to the country in their respective fields.
For the first time in the history of the TOYM, an award in the field of HRD is included and Allones is the first recipient of such award in this field.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded the medal and trophy to Allones, together with five other awardees, in a ceremony held in Malacañang on 8 December 2009. Allones’ contributions and efforts in the area of human resource development in government were deemed groundbreaking. Among these contributions was the introduction of innovative trainings and career development programs for Career Executive Service Officers (CESOs).
Allones has been in the public service for the past 22 years. She held various posts in different government offices. She was Assistant Secretary of National Defense in 2000. She also served the same position but in Labor and Employment until 2006. She was appointed Executive Director of CESB in 2007.
The CESB is one of the three group representatives to EROPA’s Executive Council.
Meanwhile, the other awardees for this year’s TOYM were: Vicky Morales-Reyno for Broadcast Journalism; Jose Roberto Alampay in the area of Democracy and Human Rights Advocacy; Mary Joy Abaquin for Education; Eliseo Prisno III for Maritime Health; and Rajo Laurel in the field of Arts and Fashion Design.
In 1982, a similar award was received by our very own SG Patricia Sto. Tomas in the name of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS). Sto. Tomas was an awardee for her significant contributions in the field of Public Administration.
Loretan Talks About Rethinking Government's Role
Dr. Rolet Loretan, Director-General of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), shared his thoughts on “Rethinking the Role of Government as a Catalyst for Public Administration Reform and Strategic Human Resources in Challenging Times” during the EROPA Conference in Seoul.
Loretan identified the main trends and issues observed in public administration reform which include: e-government; quality and performance reform; focus on citizens; transparency; innovation; public-private partnerships; and HR and competency management.
Loretan also discussed that global crisis is a challenge for the public administration sector. According to him, states are being impacted by the current crisis in all sectors and levels. He recommended that there should be a need for states and governments to rethink their role as catalyst of reform and development.
In another speech delivered during the conference, Loretan commended the Central Officials Training Institute and EROPA in their important role in bringing up the issue of addressing the challenges of the global economic crisis. He also recognized the continuing partnership between EROPA and IIAS in working together to develop public administration in the region and worldwide.
Sto. Tomas Talks About Simplification in Bureaucracy
EROPA Secretary General Patricia Sto. Tomas talked about the subject of simplification in the bureacracy when she served as keynote speaker of the OECD/Korea Policy Centre Seminar on “Strategies, Tools and Capacities for Administrative Simplification” held in Jeju Island, Korea on 17-18 November 2009.
Sto. Tomas’ presentation argued that complication in government happens when “redundant and unnecessary steps are included in a process.” This means that transaction time becomes longer, more persons are involved, higher costs for customers, and, consequently, citizens’ dissatisfaction.
According to Sto. Tomas citizens’ dissatisfaction can be done away with if government learns to simplify its processes.
How to do such simplification is a matter of introducing change. According to Sto. Tomas, an effective simplification of processes should encourage people to be involved by means of reporting their negative experiences. She also added that the use of citizen charters will empower the citizens in monitoring governmental processes. She also noted that any reforms in a process should be done in consultation with those who use such process.
Technology, as introduced in the modern world, should also be put into good practice to allow efficiency in government.
Sto. Tomas concluded that doing away with red tape or making efforts to simplify processes is always a work in progress. With this, she left a challenge to the seminar participants to do their part in this endeavor and continue to fix the systems.
EROPA Conducts Training for Government HR Practitioners
The Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) held a training program which integrated the major functions of human resource management in the Philippine civil service. Named “Achieving Integrity in the Civil Service through Effective Human Resource Management,” the program aimed to review, update, and refine the knowledge and understanding of government personnel in charge of human resource management.
EROPA believes that any organization, whether in the government or business sector, requires a pool of competent manpower that will implement policies and produce desired goals. Without human resources, an organization will not be able to achieve its goals even if it owns the best machines and technologies available. Human resources play an equally, if not more, important role in organizational operations.
As the significant role of human resources is recognized, it is therefore necessary for any organization to acquire competent employees, motivate them to improve their performance and boost their morale, provide compensation that is commensurate to their skills and responsibilities, and keep the organization moving forward in the event that some of the employees have to leave (e.g. retirement, permanent incapacity, etc.), among others. How to do these things effectively was the focus of the said training program.
Specifically, the program aimed to train the participants to further hone their skills in effectively conducting activities relating to HRM and help them understand the different issues in the subject area with reference to Philippine civil service rules and regulations.
The program was divided into four courses which include: 1) Recruitment, Selection and Appointment; 2) Performance Management and Training; 3) Benefits and Compensation Administration; and 4) Conflict Management and Administrative Discipline. The four courses were conducted at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG) on17 July, 31 July, 14 August, and 28 August 2009, respectively.
Top caliber government practitioners were invited to share their knowledge and expertise as resource persons in the said training program.
For the first course, Atty. Ariel Ronquillo of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) discussed pertinent civil service rules on recruitment, selection and appointment and included succession planning as an integral part of the staffing cycle. According to Ronquillo, it is important for human resource practitioners to keep in mind the basic rules in attracting the best persons in the field.
Director Agnes Padilla, Director of the CSC Human Resource Development Office, shared her expertise in performance management, particularly in terms of the proper implementation of the Performance Management System – Office Performance Evaluation System (PMS-OPES). She also imparted her knowledge on the importance of training as an effective tool in building capacity and maintaining a productive workforce.
The course on benefits and compensation administration also featured the best minds in the field including Ms. Emilia Boncodin, Professor at the UP NCPAG and former Secretary (Minister) of the Philippine government’s Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Atty. Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio, Vice President at the Development Bank of the Philippines and Professor at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP SOLAIR). Boncodin focused on the discussion of the Salary Standardization Law III (SSL III), an update to the Philippine government salary structure, while Bitonio discussed other benefits which can be availed by government employees, as well as the Philippine policies on compensation.
The course was also a venue for the discussion of social security benefits for government employees. Government organizations involved with the administration of social security for public employees were represented in the forum: Mr. Robert Agustin, Vice President for Membership Group at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS); Mr. Robert Namin and Mr. Ray Liwanag from the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF); Ms. Lorna Fajardo, former Vice President of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth); and Mr. Elmor Juridico, EROPA Deputy Secretary General for Training and Development and former Executive Director of the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC).
The last course had Atty. Roger Limare, Assistant Commissioner at the CSC who tackled the issue of conflict management and grievance resolution. He shared that a grievance machinery in all government agencies is important as a means of effective conflict prevention mechanism or conflict handling while the conflict is still in its infancy stage. Atty. Limare also recalled that conflict may involve a government employee and the public, and one mechanism to avoid such is the introduction of the Anti Red Tape Act (ARTA) which requires government agencies to institutionalize citizens’ charter for each government office.
Atty. Jesse Caberoy, Vice President for Human Resource Development at the Social Security System and former Assistant Commissioner at the CSC, also shared and discussed issues concerning administrative discipline, which included offenses that may involve government employees and the proper ways to handle these.
Pioneered by Mr. Elmor Juridico, the program was able to re-educate a total of 275 human resource management practitioners from all over the Philippines.
Towards an Advanced Korea: Central Officials Training Institute on the Lead
The Central Officials Training Institute (COTI), founded in March 1949 originally as the National Training Officials Institute, is the driving force for Korea’s quest towards a sustained national development through public sector training and development. The organization got its current name when it was expanded and reorganized in October 1961.
As the Korean government’s primary institution for training the country’s central officials, COTI is tasked to perform three major functions, which are: 1) to develop outstanding government officials by providing general and specialized training for central government employees; 2) to serve as a support center for other public-sector training institutes across Korea while promoting cooperative and exchange activities with private-sector HRD centers; and 3) to widen Korea's global network through international training and exchange activities with internationally recognized institutions.
COTI’s vision is to have “Creative and Competent Leaders for an Advanced Country,” complemented by the need to think globally, serve the people, and prepare for the future.
As part of its mandate, COTI conducts training programs for its local executives. In 2009, the agency conducted 59 training programs which trained a total of around 9,000 participants.
COTI also conducts international training programs as part of its goal to widen Korea’s global network. In 2009, COTI conducted 12 international training programs with 194 participants, 24 of which were from EROPA member countries, namely Japan, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam. COTI has been conducting the Executive Development Program (EDP) for foreign government officials since 1984. In recent years, it has conducted customized EDPs for government officials of Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Malaysia, and Russia, and plans to launch customized EDPs for Indian and Azerbaijani Officials in 2010.
COTI also houses the EROPA Development Management Center (DMC) which was established in 1966. Since then, COTI has been active in the activities of EROPA.
As part of its efforts to promote international exchange and cooperation among internationally recognized human capital development centers, COTI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National School of Administration of China in 2005, and the Ecole Nationale d' Administration (ENA) of Tunisia in 2007.
The institute also maintains a close relationship with organizations widely recognized for their contributions to public administration such as the International Institute of Administrative Science (IIAS), ASEAN and the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) of Malaysia.
In particular, COTI was very successful in the organization of the EROPA 22nd General Assembly and Conference on “Public Governance in Challenging Economic Times: Human Resource Development at the Battlefront” held in Seoul, Korea last October 2009.
Building an Efficient, Accountable and Transparent Civil Service: The Ministry of General Administration at the Forefront
The Ministry of General Administration (MOGA), an agency under the Government of Nepal, is mandated to regulate and manage the civil service according to government rules and regulations. Specifically, the ministry aims to make the Nepalese civil service more competent, responsible, motivated, transparent and service-oriented. In order to achieve these objectives, the ministry has been continuously implementing various structural and institutional reform programs to enable effectiveness and efficiency in the performance of government personnel’s duties and functions. The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063 (2007), Civil Service Act (1992), and the Civil Service Regulation (1993) are the primary policies in governing and regulating the government’s personnel.
In the performance of its function as Nepal’s central government personnel agency, MOGA consults and coordinates with the Public Service Commission particularly in terms of policy and decision making processes. The Public Service Commission provides recommendations and permission of terms and conditions related to civil service matters.
MOGA is also responsible for auditing the management of offices under the Nepal government. Through the management audit process, MOGA can check and monitor the implementation of administrative rules and regulations and evaluate whether these are properly implemented or not.
In line with its mandate to ensure professionalism and merit in the civil service, as well as increase the capacity and efficiency of employees from time to time, various training programs are conducted through the Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC).
Specifically, MOGA is involved in the following activities and functions in order to realize its objectives and vision for a fair, efficient, accountable, and transparent administrative system:
1) Formulation and implementation of plans, policies and programs related to personnel administration and record system.
2) Implementation of administrative reforms.
3) Act as a focal point for international organizations, institutions and conferences concerned with government administration.
4) Formulation of training policies and coordination and evaluation of various training programs conducted by the Government of Nepal.
5) Organize administrative training and coordination and evaluation of various training programs for civil servants.
6) Act as secretariat for the committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat to approve foreign scholarship for qualified civil servants.
7) Matters pertaining to Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC).
8) Advise on the policy and principles relating to salary and other fringe benefits.
9) Inter-Ministerial transfer of civil servants.
10) Liaison with the Public Service Commission.
11) Formulation, implementation and timely review of plans, policies and programs related to the appointment, placement, transfer, promotion, disciplinary actions, retirement, etc. of civil servants.
12) Administration and operation of Nepal Miscellaneous Service and Nepal Economic, Planning and Statistics Service.
13) Coordination of various personnel services within the civil service.
14) Conduct management audit of government offices in conformity with the provision of Civil Service Act.
15) Conduct Organization & Management survey, review the organizational structures and its management practices and procedures.
16) Publication of the Nepalese journal of administration “PRASHASAN.”
The Ministry of General Administration is currently headed by Minister Prabhakar Pradhananga. MOGA is the lead agency in Nepal’s membership in EROPA. The ministry will host EROPA’s 56th Executive Council meeting and seminar in 2010.
EROPA CONFERENCE 2009
Public Sector Reform in a Time of Economic Downturn
Two simultaneous panels were formed to present ideas on public sector reform. The first was chaired by Dr. Dae-Hee Lee, President of the Korean Association of Public Administration (KAPA). Presenters in this panel were Dr. Roger Wettenhall (University of Canberra, Australia), Dr. Hie-Shin Hwang (Korea Institute of Public Administration, Korea), Dr. Lisa Saye (The University of La Verne, USA), Prof. Akio Kamiko (Ritsumeikan University, Japan) and Dr. Danilo Reyes (University of the Philippines).
Professor Roger Wettenhall’s presentation called “Mixed Enterprise and the Global Financial Crisis: Relevance for the 21st Century of a 20th Century Institution” started with the discussion of the government interventions as a result of the recent global financial crisis. He noted such actions as lending of money to banks and, in particular, cited the US Government takeover of General Motors. He recognized the value of understanding the history of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in order to understand it better. He argued that mixed enterprises are actually PPPs. Prof. Wettenhall discussed two cases of PPPs in Australia – the case of the Commonwealth Oil Refineries Ltd. and the Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd. It was observed that both cases started smoothly and were able to achieve their central goals, but eventually shut down due to conflict in government and the private sector involved in terms of “new” objectives. Wettenhall, however, noted that it took these PPPs many years to shut down.
Wettenhall classified PPPs into two categories, namely: symmetrical and asymmetrical. He noted the former is usually successful, while the latter is mostly unsuccessful.
Finally, Wettenhall expressed his disappointment because lessons from the two cases under study were not so relevant in the context of the global financial crisis.
Dr. Hie Shin Hwang began her discussion of “The Role of the State in Economic Crisis” by showcasing the causes of the global economic crisis, its impact to, and the role of the state in times like this. She also provided different views on who is responsible for the occurrence of such crisis. According to her, some scholars argue that it is government’s fault because of its lack of regulatory mechanisms, while others argue that the private sector should be blamed because of its complex financial systems.
Hwang noted that the financial crisis has evolved to an economic crisis which in turn resulted in a social crisis. She cited policy responses to the problem, such as interventions and centralization of economic policymaking in the US, while other countries include labor market and social policy measures given that a social crisis has already ensued. She also cited policy responses in Korea, and indicated that her experience illustrates how good crisis management can accelerate structural adjustment.
Given all these observations, she held that this circumstance can be looked at as a new opportunity for change, and that a new paradigm for the government may be considered.
Dr. Lisa Macha Saye’s discussion of her paper “Mechanistic Strategies of Public Sector Reform in an Economic Downturn: Toward a New Change Model for Emerging Environments” started with the current environment in the US including the global crisis, declining revenues and increasing deficits, and economic and financial disasters, among others.
Dr. Saye noted that the current US governmental system is mechanistic, which means that it is like a machine, and it is rigid and predictable. Further, she cited that the US government is reactionary as evidenced by, for example, The Pendleton Act of 1883 (a reaction to the assassination of President Garfield) which created the US merit system and the Reinventing Government in the 1990s as a result of citizen demands.
Using various theories and concepts, Saye proposed a new government model called “Change Team Emergent Environment Model” as a way to combat slowed growth and decline during periods of economic crisis. The proposed paradigm shall rely on models and theories including the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model, Systems Theory, Swinth Servio Mechanism, and Kurt Levin’s Change Theory. The proposed model espouses the idea that change management teams should be a part of the long-term human resource function.
Prof. Akio Kamiko’s discussion of the paper entitled “Iida – A City on Countryside Trying to Stay Afloat by Establishing Human Resources Cycle” focused on the efforts of the Iida City to encourage its human resources to stay in its geographical territory. This strategy is a means to address the population issue in the city which is addressed by means of assuring “sustainability of human existence.”
According to Kamiko, the aim of sustainability is addressed through various policies to attract human resources and citizens to stay or come back to Iida City. These policies include industrialization to enable people to come back to the city and attract people from outside to come in; and development of community autonomy for its people to develop a sense of ownership.
The establishment of “human resources cycle,” according to Kamiko, is aimed at keeping the size of the population, and keep good quality population, which will help the city to develop. Although, the result of this policy is not yet clear, Kamiko commended the strategy of the Iida City which is consciously trying to keep its sustainability in many aspects of its operation.
Dr. Danilo R. Reyes’ paper on “Public Sector Reform and the Agenda of Good Governance: Lessons in Times of Adversity” centered on the reform initiatives that have taken shape in the public administration dichotomy.
Citing the different terms for public sector reform (PSR) (like civil service reform, bureaucratic reform, administrative reform, public administration reform, etc.), Reyes went on explaining that PSR is aimed at improving the operations of public institutions. He noted that PSR is generally a response to crises and adversities, and as examples, he presented some cases: POSDCORB as a product of the stock market crisis in October 1929; and New Public Administration as a result of the widespread social unrest in American Society, among others.
Taking the idea into context, Reyes said that the economic crisis opens avenues for new insights in terms of managing partnerships, and clarifying policies and roles. In dealing with the crisis, Reyes recommended that proper policy mixes of regulation and deregulation should be studied carefully. He added that reform efforts should be contextualized based on specific situations, involve people, consider competencies of human resources, and pay attention to technology and innovation.
In his final remarks, Reyes proposed that PSR can be treated as a sub-field in the study of Public Administration.
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The second panel under “Public Sector Reform in a Time of Economic Downturn” was chaired by Ms. Ambar Widaningrum of the Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. Four presenters shared their respective papers on public sector reform: Mr. Balananda Paudel (Ministry of General Administration, Nepal), Ms. Fatemeh Fazeli (Shahid Beheshti University, Iran), Dr. Ma. Fe Mendoza (University of the Philippines) and Dr. Masao Kikuchi (Meiji University, Japan).
Secretary Paudel’s paper called “Introducing Citizen Charter in Municipalities in Nepal: Does it Matter to Improve Service Delivery?” held that citizen charter has been considered as a technique that puts citizens in the forefront to decide about the nature, form and type of local service provision. It has become one of the most popular approaches for improved service delivery by enhancing management at the local level. Nepal’s experience in introducing this mechanism has enhanced service delivery at the grassroots level. Paudel tried to map citizens’ satisfaction with municipal services and ferret out best practices based on the Nepalese experience. He mapped out the state of local service provision after the introduction of citizen charter. He also assessed service providers’ perspectives towards its implementation. The practitioner noted that effective service management is concentrated on citizens’ understanding of citizen charter, timeliness of service(s), citizens’ accessibility to available services, the extent of reliability and trust of citizens, responsiveness of local administrators/local councils and affordability of service. He also delved on citizens’ satisfaction in relation to political affiliation vis-à-vis participation and membership in organized groups.
Ms. Fatemeh Fazeli presented her paper on the topic “Policies to Improve Socio Economic Conditions: Islamic Republic of Iran’s Practices in Her Third and Fourth Development Plan: A Glance Over the Fifth.” She examined key plans and measures taken to improve the prevailing socio-economic condition in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to her, the Economic, Social and Cultural Development plans of Iran were drawn up for the improvement and development of the country, with the intention of raising the nation’s standard of living. These were based on a collection of legal provisions, which in turn serve as the (legal) framework for the administration of the country, providing directives for planning and implementation of operational policies in the economic, social and cultural norms.
Dr. Maria Fe Mendoza’s presentation on “Public Sector Reform in Times of Economic Downturn: The Case of Tax Havens and the Prospects of ‘Tax Information Exchange’ Bill in the Philippines” focused on the challenges and prospects of transparency and efficiency in the governance of tax concerns through the proposed “Tax Information Exchange” bill pending in the Philippine Congress. She provided the international context that pushed for the need for the said policy initiative, reviewed bank secrecy regulations of Philippine financial institutions together with the country’s tax laws, assessed the need for individual countries to (be able to) enforce their own (tax) laws including push-pull factors in adopting such policy reform, and mirrored the implications of said sea change in improving best practices in tax administration in the Philippines and elsewhere.
Dr. Masao Kikuchi shared his paper “Inter Institutional Human Resource Exchange and Policy Innovation in Local Government in Japan.” His presentation discussed the Japanese experience on inter institutional human exchange practice in local governments that has shaped unique processes and policy coordination style. He deemed that governments can take innovation from different stakeholders via knowledge sharing through human resource recirculation. Kikuchi elaborated the characteristics of the Japanese human resource management in government. Features of inter institutional personnel movement in both vertical and horizontal modes were also scrutinized. He also shared innovation process cases of policy development based on human resource exchange. Lastly, he shared insights, implications and suggestions for other countries that may opt to consider similar strategies.
What Can And Should Governments Do To Make Financial Institutions Work Better: Experiences and Lessons
Dr. Alex B. Brillantes, Professor and Dean of the National College of Public Administration and Governance of the University of the Philippines, chaired the panel on “What Can and Should Government Do to Make Financial Institutions Work Better: Experience and Lesson.” He introduced the panel with reference to the recent global financial crisis resulting from the credit crunch in the United States. Indeed, public administration has an important role to play in addressing the impact of the crisis. As such, there are imperatives for institutional reform and human resource development (key competencies).
Presenters in this panel were: Dr. Joon-Kyug Kim (KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Korea); Ms. Juvy Lizette Gervacio (University of the Philippines Open University); Mr. Ahmadreza Ashrafologhalaei (Vice Presidency for Strategic Planning and Control, IR Iran); Ms. Perla Segovia (Advocacy and Consensus Building, Philippines); and Dr. Agus Pramusinto (Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia).
Dr. Joon-Kyung Kim’s presentation entitled “How to Improve the Financial Intermediation Function by Korean Banks?” noted that the impact of the global financial crisis was not as bad in South Korea. He attributed this to key institutional reforms –a response to the 1997 Asian Financial crisis and IMF conditionalities – had abated major lumps in the financial sector in Korea. It withstood over other major economies primarily due to institutional reforms both in the corporate (Chaebols) and financial sectors including the US, China and Japan. He emphasized that these resulted in the strong confidence and sound fiscal situation in Korea. In response to a question, he attributed Korea’s sound policy responses to recent global financial crisis to its conservative, large tax base, and efficient fiscal policy.
He presented his assessment of the potential risks – using measures such as debt service capacity – to the financial sector by identifying non-performing institutions. Thus, policy reforms need to be pursued to strengthen these financial institutions to respond to potential risks by i) restructuring compensation system of banks; ii) unloading guarantees to “old” existing firms or institute a system of “graduation” from government guarantees; and, iii) enhancing competencies and monitoring function of the government over credit risks.
Ms. Perla Segovia and Ms. Juvy Lizette Gervacio’s presentations, “Human Resource Regulatory Regime to Support Real Property Valuation Reform in the Philippines: A Response to Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Economic Development” and “Towards Reforming Property Valuation and Taxation in the Philippines: The Case of Naga City,” respectively, discussed the existing policy framework on real property valuation (RPV) in the Philippines within the context of decentralization and the role of local governments as agents of the State in real properties tax collection. They highlighted some inadequacies of both national and local government institutions in enabling a more effective and equitable RPV. They emphasized the need to build capacities on appropriate real property valuation such as setting standards, establishing systems and procedures, monitoring compliance, professionalizing competencies, using of information technology (IT), and de-politization of the process.
Both Ms. Gervacio and Ms. Segovia highlighted that real property taxation remains an untapped source of revenue for the government, yet it should be seen as one of the most important assets in the country. With the view of establishing generally accepted guidelines on RPV, they discussed concepts, principles, existing policy guidelines, recently adopted Valuation Reform Act (VRA) and Real Estate Act (RESA) as well as the ongoing initiatives to professionalize the practice of property valuation.
In conclusion, they reiterated the role of the government in enabling the long awaited policy and regulatory framework on RPV, and the professionalization of the practice of property valuation.
Mr. Ahmadreza Ashrafoghalaei shared his thoughts through his presentation entitled “Foreign Financial Resources as a Way Out of Economic Downturn: Opportunities, Threats, Weak and Strong Points.” He explored the threats, weaknesses, opportunities, and strong points of IR Iran in view of attracting foreign direct investments to the country. Moreover, he highlighted the need for improving and developing methods for attracting investors, conducting of sustainable transfer of technology, strengthening inter-linkages, and enhancing capacities as preconditions to pursue this end.
Mr. Ashafoghalaei argued that his country faces the risk of being removed from the list of invest-accepting countries as its entrepreneurship capacity and culture do not compare well relative to emerging countries in the international arena. Its single income depended, i.e. on oil, devalues the need for attracting foreign investors. On the other hand, he noted its geographical location and pursuit for sustainable economic ties with emerging economies as potential opportunities. The areas for possible investment include infrastructure, industries, agriculture and services. Conversely, some security issues affect its capacity to attract foreign investors.
He concluded his presentation by putting forward some operational solutions to: establish a sound regulatory framework for foreign investment, and strengthen its competence in data gathering, analysis, and research on foreign investment.
Dr. Agus Pramusinto discussed the function of an entrepreneurial spirit as a key element for economic development in his paper called “Creating Entrepreneurs through Higher Education.” He reviewed some concepts on entrepreneurship both as a process and a behavioral tool for seizing opportunities for development. As Indonesia hopes to develop entrepreneurs through higher education, the country introduced a student entrepreneur program as an instrument for HRD in 1997.
Dr. Pramusinto provided more details about the program–its rationale, phases of implementation and activities, and the different institutions involved in the program. In closing, he expressed his view that the importance of entrepreneurial, creative, and innovative ideas would bring about significant contributions to development. He further hoped that more serious efforts could be undertaken to develop the student entrepreneur program.
Addressing Economic Recessions Through HRD
Chaired by Prof. Forum Dave of India, this panel focused on how HRD can be used as a tool in addressing the issues brought by economic recessions. Five presenters shared the floor: Mr. Kaijun Guo (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, PR China); Dr. In-Sub Park (National IT Industry Promotion Agency, Korea); Dr. Seyed Kamal Vaezi (Ministry of Science Research and Technology, IR Iran); Dr. Mark Hayllar (City University of Hong Kong); and Dr. Ma. Oliva Domingo (University of the Philippines).
Deputy Director Guo Kaijun, in his paper called “People First—A Package of Human Resource Policies of China to Overcome the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis,” emphasized three targets of China to fight the global financial crisis. These are: (1) maintaining economic growth, (2) improving people’s livelihood, and (3) keeping social stability. Of the three, Director Guo Kaijun said that improving people’s livelihood is the starting point of all policies that will respond to the global financial crisis. In order to improve people’s livelihood, it is important, he said, for government to do the following: first, boost economic demand in order to secure economic growth and promote employment; second, relieve enterprises with financial burdens like postponing the payment of social insurance and reducing the social insurance premium rates as well as providing enterprises with vocational training subsidies; third, adopt more active employment policies like organized entrepreneurship education and training as well as the grant of small secured loans at lower interest; fourth, provide employment assistance to targeted groups; and fifth, enhance public job services as well as improve employment environment. In addition, Director Guo Kaijun also said that it is important for government to put in place human resource reservation policies like special vocational training programs, expansion of the enrolment scale of universities and colleges and the setting up of specialized human resources according to the demand of particular fields.
Dr. In-Sub Park showed the integration of demand and supplies policies in the development of the IT industry in Korea through his presentation on “Addressing Economic Recessions through Human Resource Development.” On the supply side, it fostered IT-related manufacturing and venture firms; while on the demand side, leading-edge user served as a catalyst. The implementation of the “grand skill formation program” was pursued by the state. This led to the eventual expansion of the demand market. Dr. Park highlighted the role of the government in fostering skill formation in addressing economic recession brought about by the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.
Dr. Park concluded his presentation with a schematic diagram on the development of the Korean ICT industry development, from which other States may learn from. He highlighted the importance of facilitating the ICT industry, laying the communication infrastructure, and the utilization of information.
Dr. Seyad Kamal Vaezi, in his paper entitled “New Paradigm in Public Innovation Policies and Human Resources Development, New Roles of Government,” emphasized that for institutions to be eligible to participate in innovative policy-making, they must meet six fundamental conditions, namely: 1) innovation policy must be able to create trust and be a key in human resource management; 2) new reforms must understand and manage ethics as well as social and political system domestically; 3) they must be able to promote economic growth and development; 4) they must be able to evaluate, monitor, analyze and predict fundamental changes in science and technology in order to keep abreast with global fundamental changes; 5) they must be able to develop priority plans and organize technological activities to reengineer nationwide development of human resource management policies; and 6) they must support the concept of green government and green management.
Dr. Mark Hayllar, in his paper “Economic Crisis: Helping, Harnessing or Harming Social Enterprise for HRD,” explored the prospects as well as the perspective for appreciating the potential impact of the economic crisis to social enterprises (SEs). He argued that SEs have significant contributions to the local economy of countries. More specifically, SEs (i) offer an innovative, low-cost, and environment-friendly business; (ii) create employment for the disadvantage; (iii) produce goods and services; (iv) encourage self-reliance.
In this context, Dr. Hayllar emphasized the need for the government to support and harness SEs in fighting the economic crisis. There are opportunities for human resource development (HRD) both within government institutions and the SE players. Hayllar concluded that efforts should also be directed at abating the negative effects of the recent global financial crisis to SEs.
Dr. Ma. Oliva Z. Domingo’s paper “Human Resource Development for Democratic Elections” presented the view that effective human resource development plays an important role in achieving integrity and transparency in the election process. She cited the experience of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) which for sometime suffered from negative publicity owing mainly on the low morale of its personnel. In 2006, the COMELEC adopted a strategic plan “Operation Merit: Modernization and Electoral Reform with Integrity and Transparency” anchored on a major program of human resource development. This program has three major objectives, namely: develop competent and committed workforce; establish a COMELEC training and development center; and conduct specialized training on election management. According to Domingo, the program implementation has so far resulted in the creation of a pool of trainers with proven training competencies and the development of standard instructional modules, trainer’s guide and election manual. What is important according to her is that this pool of trainers have proven to be energetic, very much involved, highly rated, and committed to change. She believed that this pool of trainers is well-prepared to face the challenges ahead and provide sustainability to organizational changes and the automation of elections in 2010.
Migration and Development: Utilizing Global Labor Force in Combating Economic Recessions
There were two panel sessions under this subtheme. The first panel, chaired by Dr. Kim Hunmin, Dean of the Scranton College of the Ewha Womans University, Korea, had four paper presenters: Dr. Dong-Hoon Seol (Chonbuk National University, Korea); Ms. Jennifer Jardin-Manalili (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration); Dr. Kil-Sang Yoo (Korea University of Technology and Education); and Mr. Muhammad Zulqar Nain (Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul).
After giving some background on labor migration in Korea, Dr. Dong-Hoon Seol discussed how the foreign labor policy of the country changed from “inhumane” to “humane” nature in his paper “Foreign Labor Policies and Migrant Workers’ Citizenship in Korea.”
According to Seol, the transition of Korea from a labor-sending to a labor-receiving country started in 1987. As a new labor-receiving country, Korea instituted policies on labor migration. However, initial policies which started in 1991 were “notorious” according to Seol because it denies a “worker status” to workers and there was generally a prevalence of human rights violation. He noted that this resulted in labor unrest and NGO protests.
Dr. Seol discussed that in 2004, this policy was reversed, when the Employment Permit Program was initiated and this gave less-skilled migrant workers a “worker status,” instead of “trainee status” which does not enjoy labor benefits. These changes in Korean labor migration policies were a great achievement of the Korean government, and these promoted migrants’ human rights.
Ms. Jennifer Jardin-Manalili discussed her paper on “The Philippine Migration Policy and Program Thrusts: Responding to Challenge of the Global Economic Crisis.” She enumerated the effects of the global economic crisis and these are credit crunch, lower aggregate demand, increased unemployment, lower disposable incomes, large budget deficits, and decline in foreign direct investments.
She noted that the crisis resulted in displacement from work of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The Philippine government’s policy responses relative to the global financial crisis were implemented to assist and support affected OFWs. These responses were through preservation of existing jobs, generation of additional jobs, provision of livelihood programs and other services, provision of repatriation, financial and legal assistance, and skills training, among others.
Dr. Kil-Sang Yoo, in his paper “Reciprocity of Economic Benefits: Policy Options for Labor Sending and Labor Receive” exemplified the benefits as well as the cost of migration both to labor sending and receiving countries. Using clearly drawn graphs, Dr. Yoo showed that migrant workers help stimulate GDP growth and cultural diversity; thus lead to economic and social development of both the sending and host countries. On the other hand, migration can also increase economic and social cost through the increase of irregular migration, crime by migrant workers, pose threats to employment and wages of local workers, transfer of disease, and bad image of the sending country.
Dr. Yoo examined the development of labor migration policies from 1991 to 2007. He presented migrant workers statistics in Korea to have profile of foreigners and ethnic Koreans and their distribution in various industries.
He capped his presentation with a number of policy options to maximize the benefits of migration for both the labor sending and receiving countries. He emphasized the development of migration policy in Korea and the significance of statistical or knowledge-based analysis to allow better policy responses. He elaborated on each objective of Korea’s labor migration policy, namely: right sources, replacement of local workers, abuses in recruitment and entry process, selection of right persons, labor shortage problem, protection of migrants, temporariness of stay, minimize social costs, among others.
He ended his presentation with a note that the government of Korea has entered into memoranda of agreement on three areas: allow transparency of the sending process; return procedures; and the protection of basic human rights of migrants.
Mr. Muhammad Zulqar Nain’s presentation called “Migration for Development: A Win-Win Situation for Korea and Bangladesh” provided that the migration of the Bangladesh people to Korea is mutually beneficial both to the sending and host countries. It aids the development of Bangladesh individuals and the transfers of skills to migrant workers. Korea in return would ensure competitiveness. He underemphasized that “brain drain” is not really a problem for the Bangladesh government. Separation of families is a major social hazard of migration. Language difficulty and hard work are the common complaints of Bangladesh migrants in Korea. Furthermore, Mr. Nain explored areas for improvement as regards the Korean-Bangladesh migration relations through the elaboration of migration policies pertaining to recruitment, retention, and return of migrants.
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The second session on Migration and Development, which was actually held simultaneous with the first, was chaired by Dr. Danilo Reyes of the University of the Philippines. Three speakers shared their knowledge, experiences and thoughts on the migration and development nexus. The speakers were: Dr. Carmelita Dimzon (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippines); Ms. Narumon Poonsub (Royal Thai Embassy); and Mr. Delmer Cruz (Embassy of the Philippines in Seoul).
Dr. Carmelita Dimzon’s paper on “Providing Welfare and Social Protection to Overseas Filipino Workers: OWWA’s Experience” shared OWWA’s roles as the lead agency in promoting the welfare and well-being of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their dependents. The OWWA implements programs and services to its member-OFWs on many facets of their employment abroad—beginning with pre-departure, while abroad and upon return to the Philippines. She emphasized that the agency provides other services to OFWs such as life insurance, disability benefits, scholarships for education and skills development, and loan assistance. Likewise returning workers suffering from illness can avail of health wellness programs of the agency. OWWA is now starting to think outside the box by pursuing a vigorous process of program development, taking into consideration emerging needs of OFWs.
Minister-Counselor Narumon Poonsub discussed her paper “Sufficiency Economy for Sustainable Development” which indicated that international migration is a key factor to stimulate the global economy. The prevailing global economic recession necessitated the movement of millions of workers across borders to work outside their homelands. It is worth emphasizing that migrant workers contribute to the economic growth and sustainability of their respective countries via foreign exchange remittances they send back to their families. She noted that governments must help migrant workers realize that they play a crucial role in keeping economies afloat. Principles of economic self sufficiency are applied to help migrant workers to be able to help themselves and the communities they belong to. Poonsub believed that public and private sectors should cooperate to encourage and develop human resources to combat economic challenges by utilizing all of their competencies for positive outcome of host country economies, collecting new knowledge and experience for happy return to their families, living in moderation and being self reliant. She noted in particular that migrants should learn to be self sufficient in order to achieve sustainable development.
Labor Attache Delmer Cruz enumerated the benefits and costs of both sending and receiving nations in his paper “Reciprocity of Economic Benefits: Policy Options for Labor-Sending and Labor-Receiving Countries.” Diaspora, particularly for Filipinos, has contributed to development in both host countries and the country. Migration for work has likewise brought to bear crucial issues that could lead to areas for international cooperation because, in today’s globalized world, labor crossing national boundaries affects almost all states. He identified several points including: placing international migration issues at the forefront of the global development agenda; forging bilateral agreements that cover terms and conditions of employment, social protection and manpower development; formulation of an acceptable terms of reference governing movement of migrants; recognizing private entities’ initiatives on arresting ‘brain drain’ (e.g. circular migration for health personnel through regular movements from government to private hospitals); setting up an arbitration committee/adoption of remedies; participation of receiving countries in reintegration programs; participation of receiving countries in pre employment orientation seminars and pre- departure orientation seminars; awareness for employers; and lowering transaction costs of remittances.
Strategic Human Resource Development in an Era of Green Growth: Sustainable Human Resources for Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth
Two simultaneous sessions were provided for the discussion of this theme. One session was chaired by Dr. Sung-Joon Paik, Senior Research Fellow in KRIVET, Korea, while the other by Dr. Mark Hayllar of the City University of Hong Kong.
The first session had six presenters, namely: Dr. Ki-Jong Woo (Presidential Committee on Green Growth, Korea); Dr. Seyed Kamal Vaezi (Ministry of Research and Technology, IR Iran); Dr. Hoi-Seong Jeong (Korea Environmental Policy and Administration); Dr. April Dream Teodosio (West Visayas University, Philippines); Dr. Ebinezer Florano (University of the Philippines); and Dr. Sung-Jin Kang (Korea University).
Dr. Ki-Jong Woo, Secretary General of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth in Korea asked the question: Why is there a need for green growth in Korea? He offered an answer to the same question through his presentation entitled “Creating Opportunities Through Green Growth.” Essentially, it is a new path—a crisis forced change—to attain economic sustainability and address climate change. Green growth is the new path to development. According to Dr. Woo, the key elements of green growth are advancing green technology, improving quality of life, and contributing to global community and sustainability and integration of green growth in the state of affairs. Hence, the legal framework, strategy plan, and financing both by the public-private sectors had been drawn up for adoption.
Korea’s leadership exemplifies its commitment to turn this grand vision into real actions. They have drafted the enabling of policy guidelines towards green growth. There is an ongoing program called “Green New Deal” designed to identify projects, activities and financing schemes. It provides a green framework and a set of strategies have been put in place. Among these include i) infrastructure and R&D in low emission vehicles; ii) regulation with incentives; iii) moral suasion to induce green growth as a habit; and iv) green investments. However, Korea has not been pursuing Green Growth without challenges, including public awareness and continued support from the public, business community, and the internalization of Green Growth as a major option instead of being just an alternative plan.
In his paper on “Moving from Green Government to Green Growth: A Review of Core Competencies on Human Resource Strategic Management,” Dr. Seyed Kamal Vaezi explained the importance of identifying the core competencies for Green Growth. He reviewed the rational for reinventing human resource management (HRM) and its problems as well.
He highlighted that identifying core competencies like HR strategic management can have competitive advantages for Green Growth. Moreover, he discussed some key success factors and gave examples of good green government practices toward this end.
Dr. Hoi-Seong Jeong’s presentation on “Partnerships and Governance for Effective Green Development” provided a historical view of human civilization and ecological perspective for Green Development. He noted some conditions for ecological sustainability including interdependence, cyclical nature of ecology, partnership, flexibility and diversity.
Dr. Jeong traced the evolution of paradigms and vision for sustainable development. Korea has both a passive and a positive goal: to overcome carbon economy and to make all the earth residents become happier, respectively. The shift thus requires new governance structure for “low carbon green growth.”
He concluded his presentation with some recommendations toward an effective green development. These are to: i) conduct participatory policy studies using a democratic process, ii) co-produce and use environment-related information, consolidate local communities for knowledge-based industry; and minimize negative distributive effect of policies and projects.
Dr. April Dream Teodosio’s presentation called “The Role of Academic Institutions as a Catalyst for Reform in Strategic Human Resource Development and Green Growth in Panay Island, Philippines: Experiences and Lessons” discussed climate change and how its effects are felt in the Philippines. Given its adverse effects, including increasing number of typhoons, abnormal hail storms and frozen rain droplets, efforts to mitigate it have been introduced in the country. Among these efforts come from the academe whose activities are mainly on information dissemination, advocacy for good environmental governance, and human resource development.
One such academic institution is the Western Visayas State University (WVSU). In terms of Education and Environment, the WVSU introduced a creative and experiential approach to environment education by adopting island barangays (villages) to affect the quality of education in their schools. The university distributed materials on environmental education, conducted lectures and seminars featuring prominent environmental advocates, and conducted trainings in dealing with environmental issues. Students of the university also conducted livelihood and health training in the three barangays as part of the university’s community outreach program. The university’s advocacy for environment and good governance has allowed it to conduct symposiums, forums, seminars, workshops and similar activities which targeted local officials and community residents. The mass based approach used by the university advocated community participation, and one such substantial result of this advocacy is the formation of the Visayan Sea Squadron-Iloilo Carles Team, a group involved in the enforcement of various laws on illegal fishing. WVSU also strengthened its linkages and networks in order to propagate its environmental advocacies.
Dr. Ebinezer Florano presented his paper entitled “Fostering Green Growth through Good Environmental Governance: The Cases of the Municipalities of Bulan (Sorsogon) and Baco (Oriental Mindoro) in the Philippines,” which was a result of case studies earlier worked on by his undergraduate students at UP-NCPAG. With the inputs of his students, Dr. Florano attempted to measure Green Growth in two local governments (Bulan and Baco municipalities, respectively) in the Philippines and assessed their good environmental governance practices.
He compared Bulan and Baco using an Environmental Governance Index (EGI) and other practical measures on governance, local economy, and environmental problems. Dr. Florano found that Bulan has better overall environmental governance with an index of .72 compared to Baco with .59. He attributed this to the prioritization of environment and protection through local ordinances, partnership between the local chief executive and various municipal councils, participatory governance, funding of environment programs, and leadership.
The study concluded that the case of Bulan indicated that: i) Green Growth fosters economic development as evidenced by the case of Bulan; and ii) political leadership and commitment to Green Growth are a prerequisite for Green Growth and good environmental governance.
Finally, he ended his presentation with reference to the recent flooding devastation caused by two typhoons in the Philippines. He warned everyone to be afraid of the unprecedented calamities. Therefore, we need to elect leaders who support Green Growth and sustainable development. Dr. Florano noted Korean President Lee Myung-Bak as a Green Growth committed political leader.
Dr. Sung-Jin Kang reiterated that the main factor for green growth is climate change caused by the desire for rapid economic development. However, this has resulted in global warming and consequently, climate change. He also noted that rapid population growth may have contributed to this phenomenon. Dr. Kang indicated a relationship between Green Growth and sustainable development. Sustainable development provides the policy direction, while green growth enables an economic development strategy. It is thus imperative to pursue human resource development (HRD) towards Green Growth through the convergence of education (supply side) and professional manpower (demand side). He ended his presentation by concluding that green business and HRD have to work hand in hand so that the benefits of Green Growth will become widely acknowledged and adopted globally.
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The second session on Strategic Human Resource Development in an Era of Green Growth was shared by six speakers: Dr. Yong-Sung Park (Dankook University, Korea); Dr. Rolando Metin (Career Executive Service Board); Dr. Gyu-Hee Hwang (Human Resource in Sci-Tech, KRIVET, Korea); Dr. Seung-Do Kim (Hallym University, Korea); Ms. Forum Dave (Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, India); and Dr. Ambar Widaningrum (Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia).
In his paper on “Policy Measures to Green Growth: Create More Opportunity and Value,” Dr. Yong-Sung Park imparted a systematic comprehension of the fundamental elements of green growth, together with suggested policy options that promote the use of green growth and lessen barriers to the adoption of said approach within the Korean perspective. Specifically, he explored the concept of green growth and observed that it creates a competitive environment for companies. In addition, he outlined the channels along which a business strategy for ecological efficiency can enhance de-coupling between the use of nature and growth in an economy while showing how policy measures can expound the effectiveness of said avenues. Finally, he observed that government policies can be both drivers and barriers of green growth strategy adoption.
The presentation of Dr. Rolando Metin on “Greening Growth through HRD Interventions” proposed an initial five year greening program for the entire Philippine government. Dr. Metin cited that program contents will focus on waste reduction and minimization across all sectors, i.e. household, industries, offices, including all economic and social activities; on adaptation and mitigation with respect to climate change, and on conservation of precious natural resource, specifically water. The proposed program, Metin explained, aims to pursue progressive economic and social development in the context of green growth. The training program also hopes to enhance emergency response preparedness for natural disasters. It is expected that after the five year program, there will be a distinct nucleus of HRD practitioners in the country whose advocacy and skills on green growth will continue to stimulate and influence (the) greening of all economic and social processes.
Dr. Gyu-Hee Wang’s discussion on “Strategic Human Resource Development in an Era of Green Growth” shared the Korean government’s search for growth opportunities via green investment in this change of business environment. According to Wang, green growth does not only direct the development of radical and unfamiliar areas like pioneer sources of renewable or sustainable energies, but also the creation of convergence industry by adopting green technology to traditional manufacturing like electrics, electronics, automobile and other auxiliary industries. The development of carbon substitutes in business and industry for example, will tend to reorganize existing establishments into adopting new technologies coupled with developing new energy saving/eco-friendly products and restructure manufacturing processes. In the midst of this change, these fields will increase in importance since strategic planning and technical coalition for the development of technology, research for green products, manufacturing processes, and production systems would follow the adoption of widespread green technology.
Dr. Seung-Do Kim presented his paper which focused on “Climate Change and Green Growth.” Climate change, according to him, has emerged as one of the biggest challenges due to its tremendous impacts on environment and mankind. Many efforts to mitigate and adapt climate change have been made across nations, international organizations, industries and individuals.
Dr. Kim also discussed Green Growth which he explained as a paradigm that focuses on reducing the increasing environmental pressure arising from economic growth, thus enabling economic growth to reduce the poverty of the current generation while maintaining the carrying capacity for future generations. Under this paradigm, countries would be required to integrate environmental policies with economic policies and create a positive win-win synergy between environment and economy.
He discussed, among others, the implementation of green growth as well as the relationship between climate change and green growth. Implementation of green growth, according to Dr. Kim, would mean a change in concept and in system. An example of the first would be “from pollution control to eco-efficiency improvement.” The second refers to “internalization of environmental costs into pricing mechanisms.” He pointed out that the green growth approach is a new policy that is aimed at helping Asia Pacific countries to achieve real progress towards sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Ms. Forum Dave shared her thoughts on the urbanization effect of global warming through her paper “Global Warming: The Urbanization Effect.” Dave cited some cases which might pose security risks in the future as possible results of global warming.
From Dave’s point of view, the major challenge for the survival of humans is environmental issues like climate change, global warming, and ozone depletion. Now, we have reached the time when sustainable development should be the sole mission for all economies, be it developed or developing countries. If different countries of the world will not change their current patterns of consumption and production, the negative consequences will outweigh the economic benefits. Green growth strategy, which aims to put environmental issues at the forefront of policy decisions, is a way out of these negative consequences, according to Dave. This is why the green growth strategy is extremely pertinent.
Dr. Ambar Widaningrum discussed the impact of inter-district/city cooperation on establishing environment friendly city and creating job opprtunities. She cited the Kartamantul as a best practice in terms of inter-district cooperation. She explained that under the global urge to strengthen regional economy and develop healthy living environment, three local government administrations--Yogyakarta, Sleman, and Bantul--initiated a mechanism for cooperation called the Joint Secretariat of Kartamantul (JSK), which was formed to ease the coordination between regions in the provision of selected city services.
Widaningrum noted that one of the lessons learned from the establishment of this cooperative mechanism is the optimization of potentials possessed by each region within the context of regional resource scarcity. This also resulted in the reduction of conflicts between and among districts, and the exchange of innovation among them. She also noted that JSK is a promising model of coordination, facilitation and mediation of conflicts among local governments.
UNPOG Tackels Economic Crisis in Local Governments
The United Nations Public Office on Governance (UNPOG) discussed the effects of the economic downturn to Asia-Pacific local governments and the latter’s responses to cope with the crisis. This was realized through the special session on “The Impact of the Challenging Economic Times on Local Governments: Strategies on Coping with the Economic Crisis” under EROPA Conference framework in Seoul, Korea.
Chaired by Mr. Jong-Moo Choi, Director of UNPOG, the session was participated in by four experts from the Asia-Pacific region: Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong (National Institute for Development Administration, Thailand); Dr. Rajiv Sharma (Center for Good Governance, India); Dr. Jae-Yul Lee (Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Korea); and Mr. Peter Woods (United Cities and Local Governments).
Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, President of NIDA, laid out the adverse effects of the global financial crisis to the economy of Thailand and to the country’s local governments. He cited that the deficit of its gross domestic product (GDP) naturally resulted in the decrease of tax collection and government budget.
The decrease of budget allocation for local governments indicates the immediate impact of the world economic crisis. Dr. Thamrongthanyawong noted that the budget decline would lead to: 1) the cutting of basic public service provision; 2) decline of subsidy for social welfare provision; and 3) slowing development of roads and basic public utilities at the local level. All these would further decline service delivery and aggravate stagnant economy in the local area.
Dr. Thamrongthanyawong offered some recommendations to cope with the crisis. This includes promoting public participation, accentuating frugal or prudent spending; and, abiding by the Royal Sufficiency Economy principles of moderation, reasonableness, and self –immunity. He also saw opportunities in the use of e-government initiatives to minimize the effects of the world economic crisis such as geographic information system for tax mapping, and local administrative accounting system for better and more efficient local tax collection, and standardization of accounting system process.
Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Director-General of CGG, shared some reflections on the effects of the global economic downturn in India. Due to the crisis, there was considerable reduction of exports that adversely impinged on the income of the Indian workforce.
Sharma cited examples of decrease in revenues due to low economic activity, including tax decline. Capital works involving large capital outlays risk abandonment of work by contractors coupled with escalation of project cost. Inflationary pressure on urban infrastructure projects manifested and the availability of financial capital altogether was greatly reduced.
Sharma forwarded several strategies for local governments in order to mitigate the impacts of the prevailing economic doldrums via urban governance reform. He noted the adoption of mandatory and optional reforms to rectify or improve shortcomings on administrative, property title certification and building permit systems while espousing the implementation of public disclosure and community participation laws, introduction of an accrual based tax accounting system and property tax reform. He also suggested the adoption of innovative public-private partnerships that can be used to level the playing field for private investors.
Dr. Jae-Yul Lee, Assistant Governor of the Gyeonggi, discussed how the province responds to the economic crisis. Lee presented to the audience the province’s major industries which include semi-conductor (Samsung Electronics, Hynix, Fairchild, Tokyo Electronics, etc.) and electronics (LG, Samsung, NEC, Hoya, 3M, etc.).
He shared the province’s strategies and major policies, which include deregulation in the capital region, support to small and medium-sized companies, advance budget spending, job creation, and programs such as the Hope Works Project, Unlimited Care for Families in Crisis, Safe School for Children, and Great Train Express (GTX) Plan, which is described as the “green revolution” in transportation. The Gyeonggi Province is also set to make an ideal environment for companies toexpand and enrich the educational system to maximize human resources.
Public Administration Events
18th NISPAcee Annual Conference
Theme: Public Administration in Times of Crisis
Date: 12-14 May 2010
Venue: Warsaw, Poland
Organizers: The Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) and the National School of Public Administration, Warsaw, Poland
Website: http://www.nispa.org/
Asia-Pacific Productivity Conference
Theme: Asia-Pacific Productivity Conference 2010
Date: 21-23 July 2010
Venue: Taipei, Taiwan
Organizers: Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica
Website: http://www.appc2010.org.tw/
*more Public Administration events at www.unpan.org.
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