South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Asia-Pacific : Towards a new paradigm in development cooperation

1. South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Asia-Pacific:Towards a new paradigm in development cooperation Nagesh Kumar RIS www.ris.org.in

2. Context • Attention paid by developing countries to South-South Cooperation (SSC) during 1960s and 1970s • Number of initiatives: NAM/G-77; UNCTAD, Bangkok Agreement, GSTP a.o. • Early initiatives by developing countries towards development cooperation • E.g. China –TAZARA Railway; India – Tribhuvan Highway, ITEC programme • Buenos Aires Programme of Action 1978 • Set back during 1980s-90s • Financial crisis- structural adjustment programmes emphasizing on the reforms integrating with the world economy • South Commission Report 1990: South ‘existing on the periphery of the North, mostly weak and powerless in the world arena’ • In the new millennium: emergence of the South as an important player on the world economic stage • Dynamic, competitive supplier of a number of goods and services • Major gaps between and within the countries • Different stages of development- complementarities have increased • South-south trade and investments growing rapidly • Many regional and interregional groupings of South take shape

3. Relevance of South-South Cooperation • Replicability of development experiences • Adaptations for similar factor endowments • Adapted to poorer infrastructure • Geo-climatic conditions • More appropriate scales • Cost effective solutions • Low cost of skills and equipments • Devoid of conditionalities • Given more appropriateness of skills and lower costs, developing countries are better placed to respond to the needs and problems of co-developing countries. • Triangular cooperation can achieve much greater effectiveness per unit of resources spent compared to traditional North-South development assistance programmes i.e. a win-win

4. Drivers of SSC and TDC in Asia-Pacific • Rise of emerging countries with accumulated development experience • East Asian NIEs (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia), China, India • Rising diversity or synergies in Asia • Widening gaps between average per capita incomes in Asia • Rising proportion of intra-regional trade and investments • Rise of regional economic cooperation in Asia • Growing interest of developed countries in supporting SSC in Asia • Japan as a pioneer

5. Emerging trends and patterns in SSC • Globally SSC in the range of US$ 9.5 bn to 12.1 bn in 2006 or 8-10% of total development cooperation • Underestimates due to definitions and coverage • ECOSOC projects SSC rising to US$ 15 bn, by 2010 • Given more ambitious commitments made by China and India • No precise figures available for the scale and scope • Take a look at the SSC activity of major countries in Asia to get an idea

6. SSC Activity of Major Asian Developing Countries, 2006

7. Patterns in Triangular Cooperation • Intergovernmental TDC programmes • Some examples • New Rice for Africa (NERICA) • Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability (APCD) • JICA-ASEAN Regional Cooperation Meeting (JARCOM • ASEAN Institute for Health Development (Mahidol University, Thailand • Rural Development Project in Cambodia • Africa-Asia SMEs Network Programme • Thailand-Japan Technical Partnership for Africa • SSC in the Framework of East Asia Summit (EAS)

8. Patterns in Triangular Cooperation contd. • TDC programmes with multilateral bodies • Some examples • South-South Trust Fund at UNDP • IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation • UNESCO’s E-9 Initiative for SSC • Colombo Plan • Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC • International Trade Centre, Geneva • Asia Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology • World Bank’s South-South Experience Sharing Programme • NAM Centre for Science and Technology • UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation, New Delhi

9. Significance and Impact of TDC and SSC • Poor base of statistics and guidelines do not allow proper appreciation of the significance • Considerable effort in capacity-building • Bridging the digital divide: a case study of ICT sector • Significant growth since 2003; India, China most active • Bilateral agreements for ICT cooperation, e-governance etc. • Setting up of IT training centres, capacity-building programes; • sharing of experiences in computerization, e-governance, • projects such as pan-African e-network

10. Concluding Remarks • SSC and TDC have come of age in Asia-Pacific • Extensive scale and scope of SSC programmes of China, India, Korea, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore • General focus on capacity-building and sharing development experiences and building infrastructure and productive capacities • TDC has also become a sizeable activity with pioneering role of Japan and interest of multilateral agencies in sharing Asian countries development experiences to other regions • Asian developing countries are also offering debt cancellations and market access to LDCs • ICT sector has been a major focus of attention where Asian countries are sharing their capacity with co-developing countries • Full potential of SSC and TDC is far from realized • Exact scale of SSC cannot be determined due to poor coordination between different national agencies • Underestimation also due to cost variations and underreporting

11. Imperative of Enhancing SSC and TDC in Asia-Pacific in the context of financial crisis • Promotion of SS Trade and Investments • Broadening and deepening regional economic integration in Asia • Asian financial cooperation for infrastructure development • S&T Cooperation for development • Mobilizing ICTs for empowering poor • Exploiting the potential of biotechnologies for pro-poor growth • Cooperation for medicines and public health • Cooperation for building a development-friendly world trading system and global financial system

12. Enhancing effectiveness of SSC and TDC • Action Points for Cooperating Governments • National coordinating agencies, e.g. KOICA, JICA, TICA • Gather information on all development cooperation activities from various agencies and stakeholders • Action Points for DAC Governments • Route a growing proportion of development assistance through TDC: a target of 20-25% • Japan may take a lead in announcing a target for promoting SSC • Support ongoing SSC projects rather than only launching new TDC projects

13. Enhancing effectiveness of SSC and TDCcontd. • Action Points for DCF and ESCAP • DCF should develop guidelines for collection of statistics • Guidelines should be freshly developed rather than adopting DAC ones keeping in mind uniqueness of SSC • Develop conversion factors for international comparisons • DCF and regional commissions to set up regional bureaus for data collection in different regions and provide technical assistance to governments in implementing the guidelines • DCF should develop guidelines for reporting TDC by DAC countries • DCF should compile a directory of best practices

14. Enhancing effectiveness of SSC and TDCcontd. • Action Points for International Agencies • Give preferences to Southern sources of supply in their procurements for development projects in the South to promote SSC • Reserve a certain proportion of procurement from Southern suppliers for delivery in other developing countries • Action Points for Programme Countries • Programme country governments could also designate an agency to coordinate with Southern partners and to monitor and evaluate the cooperation projects and provide feedback • Assume ownership of cooperation programmes

15. Thank you