April 2005

Nancy Alexander
Citizens' Network on Essential Services (CNES)
Washington D.C.
USA

Dear Shal,

Thank you for your paper. It does an excellent job of recapping what the AsDB is and the damage it's causing in the region.

If it were in the scope of the undertaking, it would be useful to hear what advocacy strategies have been employed and to what end. It would be important to build on successes.

It would also be useful to hear a fuller expose of the ideas for action that you set forth on page 12. For instance, what would independent regulatory mechanisms in each country look like? Is there any precedent for such mechanisms? How about a regional watch-dog agency? Is there any government support for that idea?

Also, how might financing be separated from policy conditionalities?

Is there a place for more active oversight of the AsDB by parliaments/congresses in the region?

Are there ways that it might be possible to restrain the AsDB from implementing trade agreements - even those that are not negotiated.

As you can see, I'm curious about your thinking about next steps.
Perhaps there will be an opportunity to discuss the possibilities.

Fondly,
Nancy C. Alexander, Director