Asean, World Bank to scale up collaboration in key areas

2010-02-18

JAKARTA—The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the World Bank are currently exploring cooperation especially in the key areas of infrastructure and connectivity, climate change, disaster risk management and food security, Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported citing an Asean Secretariat press statement.

“The visions of Asean and the World Bank are very much intertwined and Asean is looking for opportunities to share the World Bank’s experiences with the region on how to better carry out development,” Jakarta-based Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan, said in his speech at the high level Asean Secretariat-World Bank Consultation Session in Jakarta Thursday.

The participants of the Consultation Session discussed a wide range of cross-sectoral issues including regional integration, infrastructure and connectivity, social protection and labor migration.

Other areas such as strengthening macro-economic surveillance, food and energy security, climate change and disaster risk management and the Global Development Learning Network, were also discussed.

The Consultation Session was convened with an aim to take stock of current joint work and map out future collaboration between Asean and the World Bank.

Dr Surin also called on the World Bank to consider how to synergise its bilateral assistance to Asean Member States at the national level with that of the regional agendas and dimensions.

“As the World Bank assists in the preparation of national development strategies, it provides an opportunity to include the regional integration component in the plans,” he said.

Meanwhile, in his review of the existing Asean-World Bank partnership, the World Bank’s Vice President for East Asia Pacific Region, James W. Adams, said that “the World Bank is committed to the scaling up the economic and social protection agendas of Asean.”

He also expressed hope on sustaining the high-level interaction on a regular basis.

Both the Asean Secretariat and the World Bank agreed on the importance of sustaining the discussion on strategic issues and of enhancing their information exchange and coordination.

The Consultation Session was followed by a half-day development seminar on “The Post-Crisis World: Global and East Asian Regional Development Scenarios” held at the Asean Secretariat on Friday.

Representatives from Asean Member States, key officers from the Asean Secretariat and the World Bank are participating in the seminar.