Bibek Debroy is Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi. He is a professional economist and was educated in Presidency College (Calcutta), Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College (Cambridge). He has worked at Presidency College (Calcutta), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Econo-mics (Pune), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (Delhi), National Council of Applied Economic Research (Delhi) and as Consultant, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He was also the Director for a project known as LARGE, set up by the Ministry of Finance and UNDP to examine legal reforms. He is the author and editor of several books, papers and popular articles and is also Consulting Editor with Financial Express. Bibek Debroy’s special interests are international trade (in particular the WTO), law reform and the political economy of liberalisation in India. He has been listed in many bibliographies and has been a member of several government committees.

Laveesh Bhandari, completed his Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University, USA in 1996. He received the Exim Bank Best Thesis in International Economics award in 1996. Previously he was awarded the Hite Fellowship for his work on International finance. He has taught economics at Boston University and IIT Delhi and was also the Managing Editor of the Journal of Emerging Market Finance. He worked on Industry and Infrastructure development issues at NCAER between 1996 and 2000 and since has been leading socio-economic research at Indicus Analytics.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation promotes the principle of freedom in human dignity, both in Germany as well as abroad together with its partners — through political education, political advice and political dialogue. The Foundation has the following objectives :

• To sensitise people on political issues and motivate them to get involved.
• To provide liberal answers to the burning issues of the day, and to incorporate new findings and experiences — including those from other cultures — into liberal solutions.
• To strive for cooperation in development through free international trade and through helping to establish free and responsible civic societies in developing countries.
• To work towards worldwide victory of human and civil rights.

Wherever freedom, democracy and rule of law are just beginning to gain a foothold, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation is particularly called upon to lend its expertise and assume responsibility. As the only liberal organisation of its kind worldwide, the Foundation is active in many countries of the world, helping to lay the foundation for a future in freedom that bears responsibility for coming generations.

In South Asia, where the political situation is characterised by the sharpest of contrasts, the Foundation faces some important challenges to accompany and support the distinct endeavours to move from feudalistic structures to democracy. The Foundation offers advice and training for people in positions of leadership. Liberal solutions are worked out for the problems of the region through workshops and studies. The Foundation always works in collaboration with local partners and active organisations operating in the national and regional level of South Asia.