Opening Remarks

Mr Hiroaki Shiga
Executive Senior Research Fellow,
JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development,
Japan International Cooperation Agency

Panellists

Dr Nguyen Huy Hoang
Director, Institute for Southeast Asian Studies,
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

Dr Yulius Purwadi Hermawan
Lecturer, Department of International Relations,
Parahyangan Catholic University, Indonesia

Dr Siriporn Wajjwalku
Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science,
Thammasat University, Thailand

Moderator

Mr Ryutaro Murotani
Head, Office for Peacebuilding,
Governance and Peacebuilding Department,
Japan International Cooperation Agency

Abstract

The landscape of international development cooperation (ODA and South-South cooperation (SSC)) in the Southeast Asian region is changing. It is due to the intensification of great power rivalry in the region. Under regional cooperation initiatives such as the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), China, Japan, the United States, and India are strengthening their development cooperation for the enhancement of infrastructure connectivity, sustainable development, and regional stability and security. Development cooperation now emerges as a main tool for great power diplomacy.

In the face of growing activism of extra-regional powers, Southeast Asian countries are facing a challenge of securing their ownership, or “ASEAN centrality”, in drawing their own picture of sustainable and balanced development of the whole region. Keenly aware of the importance to meet this challenge, some countries in the region are invigorating their activities as donors of development cooperation.

In this webinar, we would shed light on the realities of development cooperation in Southeast Asian region with an emphasis on the analysis of SSC by the “emerging donors” in the region. Specifically, Thailand’s endeavour to be a more active regional provider of development cooperation, Indonesia’s recent move to establish its streamlined aid agency (Indonesian AID), and Vietnam’s emergence as a provider of SSC to neighbouring states, are discussed.