Michael Richardson: Richer nations extend hand to Asian needy

One of the promising trends in Southeast Asia over recent years has been the increasing readiness of richer, more developed members of Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to help more needy partner states.

The trend was underscored at the Asean summit last week when Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a significant extension of his country's technical aid package for Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam (CMLV).

The aim of this kind of assistance is to bridge the development gap in Southeast Asia and enable the newer, poorer members of Asean to catch up with the older members. This has become a key Asean policy objective through the Initiative for Asean Integration (IAI).

The IAI was started in 2000 by Singapore's then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the fourth Asean informal summit in Singapore to sharpen the focus of collective efforts in Asean on narrowing the development divide.

Singapore established its training and technical co-operation programme in 1992. Malaysia, too, has had a similar scheme for some years. Both provide capacity building to a wide range of developing countries, not just those in Southeast Asia.

From 2001, Singapore set up four IAI training centres in Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Yangon and Vientiane to provide courses for Government officials in subjects such as English, trade and economic development, negotiation skills, note-taking, curriculum planning and World Trade Organisation accession requirements and issues.

The emphasis is on training trainers and helping to equip officials for playing a productive part in the 500 or so meetings that Asean has each year.

Thailand announced in 2003 it would cease to be an aid recipient and instead provide training for its Mekong River neighbours, the CMLV countries.

Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines also provide this kind of human resource development to the newer Asean members.

The technical aid package worth nearly S$29 million ($24.6 million), unveiled by Lee in Vientiane last Monday, will extend Singapore's commitment to Asean's four poorest countries under the IAI for another three years, from 2006 to 2008.

But now that some Southeast Asian states have their own well-established training and technical co-operation programmes for the region, Asean could go further in developing aid partnerships to strengthen regional cohesion and solidarity.

Asean could also consider teaming up with Australia and New Zealand(ANZ), both of which want to develop closer ties with Southeast Asia and have long-established aid partnerships with Asean.

In Vientiane last Wednesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the Government aid agency NZAID would pursue new development partnerships in the region.

Clark said this could involve tripartite co-operation with Asean and Australia in health, quarantine and food safety training and capacity building to further regional trade.

From 1974 to 2003, Australian contributions to regional co-operation projects managed by the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta amounted to A$160 million ($173 million).

In the 12 months to June 2004, Australia's total development assistance to individual Asean countries was A$350 million. Also, Australia has provided A$45 million over six years until 2008 for the Asean-Australia Development Co-operation Programme.

New Zealand's total assistance to Southeast Asia in the year to June 2004 was around $45 million. It included Government money provided to individual Southeast Asian countries, to multilateral agencies and non-government organisations with projects in the region. Most of the bilateral aid went to Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. New Zealand allocated about $2 million for the year to its development co-operation programme with Asean.

Australia and New Zealand could look at extending their aid collaboration with Singapore and the other Asean states that provide training and technical assistance to the CMLV.

If some of the training can be done in Southeast Asia, rather than Australia or New Zealand, it will reduce travel and other expenses, lowering the administrative costs of aid.

It might also be useful if Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asian aid providers made an inventory of their projects and gave the information to the Asean secretariat.

This could form a database for use as a checklist to prevent duplication and waste of scarce aid resources.

Such co-operation could strengthen both Asean and ANZ-South East Asian cohesion. The opportunity and income gaps in Southeast Asia create conflicts of interest among Southeast Asian countries.

They also add to protectionist pressures in those countries that fear competition in an open market and make it more difficult to achieve Asean economic integration.

Australia and Singapore recently extended a joint training partnership they have started for less developed Asean countries.

New Zealand has a similar agreement with Thailand for countries of the Mekong River basin.

The aim of these aid partnerships between ANZ and Asean countries is to draw on the relative strengths of the partners in providing training, and to share resources and costs.

There is potential to extend these partnerships, not just between ANZ and Asean countries, but among Southeast Asian states themselves that lend a hand.

* Michael Richardson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He is co-author of a recent report on relations between ANZ and Southeast Asia that was commissioned by ISEAS.