(20-05-2013)
ASEAN and partners have initiated tireless efforts to address the
development gap in ASEAN. To promote awareness and understanding on the
importance of narrowing the development gap (NDG) in ASEAN, the “NDG
Lecture Series” are taking place and the diplomatic community, research
institutions, and media took part in the launching of a new publication
“Narrowing the Development Gap in ASEAN: Drivers and Policy Options” at
the ASEAN Secretariat on 17 May 2013.
With measures based on the universally accepted Human Development
Index, the new publication states that this development gap has been
narrowing in the last decade, but more needs to be done.
“This new publication will enhance our understanding of the
development gaps, provide an important context for decision makers to
identify strategic needs of the region, and suggest policy options to
narrow the development gap,” said H.E. Le Luong Minh, the
Secretary-General of ASEAN.
A collaboration of ASEAN and Australia through the ASEAN-Australia
Development Cooperation Programme Phase 2 (AADCP II), the publication
communicates the latest findings on the status of progress in ASEAN’s
efforts in narrowing the development gap between the newer four Member
States (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam) and ASEAN-6.
"Australia's longstanding aid program in this region is an expression
of our support to ASEAN's efforts to build a resilient - and equitable -
ASEAN Economic Community,” remarked Dr. David Engel, Deputy Head,
Mission of Australia to ASEAN.
ASEAN has made great strides towards establishing the ASEAN
Community. However, the potential uncertainties in ASEAN remain the
current status of development gaps in the region.
“Differences in the level of development can cause inequality and
limited opportunities to obtain benefits from an effective integration,”
pointed H.E. Vu Dang Dzung, the Permanent Representative of the
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to ASEAN and Chair of the IAI Task Force.
“It is impossible to build a community if the gaps persist among the
member countries.”
Ambassador Rodolfo C. Severino, Head of the ASEAN Studies Centre at
the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore and Former
Secretary-General of ASEAN added how “the ASEAN leaders understood the
political, as well as the economic, importance both of building the CLMV
countries’ capacity to take part in integrating the region and of
regional integration and community building in advancing those
countries….The development gap between ASEAN members was accounted for
not only by the difference in per-capita income but, more significantly,
in terms of human resources and institutional capacity.”
Co-author Professor Mark McGillivray described the uniqueness of the
first NDG book ever to have undergone the ASEAN process. The book also
serves as a point of reference for ASEAN and partners in understanding
the disparities, and seeks to incite further deliberation on policy
options to enhance inclusive and equitable growth in the region.
While the book enunciates ASEAN’s efforts in narrowing the
development gap and examines development strategies, the NDG Lecture
Series explore salient issues in narrowing various forms of development
gaps in ASEAN. Convening a set of expert practitioners, academics, and
decision-makers, the series create a venue to share theoretical and
evidence-based observations, policy suggestions and practical solutions
to addressing NDG issues.
The first NDG Lecture Series: Regional Overview and Policy Issues
Facing CLMV growth was kicked-off by Dr. Kensuke Tanaka, Head of the
Asia Desk of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) Development Centre in March 2013. He elaborated on the main
drivers of growth in the Asia and the ASEAN region in particular, the
untapped potential of ASEAN’s newer Member States of Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Myanmar and Viet Nam, and the policy challenges they each face.
The second NDG Lecture Series: Implementation of Regional Cooperation
Initiatives to Narrow the Development Gap and the third NDG Lecture
Series No.3: Defining the Gap, Zooming in on the Health Sector were held
on 16 and 17 May 2013, respectively. The former tackled the more
practical aspects on the modes and systems of development cooperation
for NDG in ASEAN, while the latter examined health disparities in ASEAN.
As an active partner of ASEAN, the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) knows the importance of effectively delivering the
Blueprint measures to build an ASEAN Community. JICA co-organised the
second NDG Lecture Series.
“From a development partner perspective, the implementation of ASEAN
measures entails involvement of entities, such as the national
development planning agencies, alongside line agencies and the national
secretariat in member countries,” said Dr. Sachiko Ishikawa, Senior
Advisor of the Japan International Cooperation Agency. “This will ensure
smooth coordination and achieve effective outputs of projects at the
ground level and importantly, sustainability of the outcome.”
But given the CLMV countries’ resource and capacity constraints,
there are lessons that can be learned and applied in operationalizing
regional programmes’ at the national level. Just as national decisions
are required to formulate regional policy, laws are needed to implement
them at the country level. National governments must ensure the
commitment of required resources to enable local and provincial
governments to transpose regional policy into effective and appropriate
rules and regulations.
“The nature of regional programmes requires specific actions by
national agencies to allow for broad-based support at the country
level.” pointed Dr. Peter van Diermen, Chief Technical Adviser,
Indonesian National Team for Accelerating Poverty Reduction.
The third installment of the NDG Lecture Series, co-organsied by
AusAID, tackled development gap indicators in Health as a case study
together with health sector experts Dr. Khanchit Limpakarnjanarat of the
World Health Organisation (Indonesia representative) and Dr. Ferdinal
Fernando, Head of the Health and Communicable Diseases Division of the
ASEAN Secretariat.
Millennium Development Goal indicators show some
CLMV countries lagging behind, with more deaths per 1,000 live births
among infants, children under five, and women giving birth than most
ASEAN-6 countries.
Dr Fernando emphasized that the state of health and non-health
related initiatives that are being undertaken in ASEAN act as each
other’s enablers and can affect not only the success of initiatives but
also the outcomes that can be gained from them. There are several
potential points of cooperation between health and non-health sectors to
address the development gap. He mentioned convergence in the areas of
governance, policy, microfinance, food security, disaster risk
management, and social protection. Everyone needs to be involved in what
he referred to as a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society
approach.
Dr Limpakarnjanarat discussed the World Health Organization’s
initiatives in the region and the state of health in the CLMV countries.
Apart from the development gap in life expectancy, he tackled existing
gaps in ASEAN in terms of human capacity in implementing policies in the
sector. CLMV countries require more support to equip them in handling
the spread of communicable diseases, including cross-border
transmission, testing for HIV and AIDS, and increasing health coverage.
“Spending for health is an investment, not an expenditure.”
The ASEAN
Secretariat and the WHO have a standing MOU aimed at training ASEAN
health officials in various medical fields of technical cooperation
where the modalities of collaboration are pursued at the country,
regional and global level.
ASEAN's launch of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) in 2000
was specifically meant to deal with issues on narrowing the divide where
equitable and inclusive development will be a defining feature of
ASEAN's integration efforts. The IAI Work Plan II (2009-2015) serves as
the main tool to remove obstacles standing in the way of an equitable
growth path; 42% of its prescribed actions to support CLMV’s integration
in the ASEAN Community, including those related to improving health and
social protection, are socio-cultural in nature. Other cited activities
are related to ASEAN’s economic and political security pillars. Strides
have been made in Narrowing the Development Gap in ASEAN, but regional
integration could benefit from further well-targeted, concerted efforts.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has proposed that Asia should direct
its investments to build connectivity, both on land and sea, since Asia
is mostly a large land continent covering two oceans, the Indian, and
the Pacific.
