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IAI Attachment Programme at the ASEAN Secretariat for Junior Diplomats of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (17th Batch) and 6th Batch: Attachment of Officers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam for AEC and ASCC Involvement at the ASEAN Secretariat (2022-2023)

Proponent:ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC)
Implementing Agency:ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC)

Background

Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (CLMV) joined ASEAN between 1995 and 1999, or around 30 years after the regional grouping was established. Compared to the other ASEAN Member States, on average CLMV countries have lower per capita incomes1 and Human Development Index2 in 2021. This indicates that prevalent development gaps still exist within and among the ASEAN Member States. To address this concern, ASEAN leaders adopted the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and Ha Noi Declaration on Narrowing Development Gaps for Closer ASEAN Integration in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

The Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) has been supporting the implementation of the Attachment Programme since 2007 to assist officials from the CLMV countries in narrowing capacity and institutional gaps among the ASEAN Member States by enhancing their knowledge, skills, and experiences. The one-year programme enables the Attachment Officers (AOs) to contribute to regional discussions and ensure the effective implementation of their national commitments. To date, approximately 100 young government officials have been dispatched to the ASEAN Secretariat.

What is the project aiming for?

Building on the achievements of the previous batches, the Attachment Programme in 2022-2023 aims to assist the CLMV countries to meet ASEAN-wide targets and commitments towards realising the goals of the ASEAN Community, thus contributing to narrowing development gaps by producing the following outputs:

  • Enhanced knowledge and understanding of 12 AOs from CLMV countries on the issues relating to regional cooperation and integration;
  • Improved capability to prepare for ASEAN meetings, including drafting talking points and intervention points, drafting outcome documents, and serving meetings and conferences; and
  • Improved capacity of additional five AOs from Cambodia to support Cambodia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2022.

ASEAN valued Japan’s support for the implementation of the IAI Work Plan III (2016- 2020) and appreciated Japan’s continued commitment to the implementation of the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025), as well as programmes to foster human resource development, narrow the development gap and promote sub-regional development within ASEAN. We also welcomed Japan’s continued support for the Attachment Programme for Junior Diplomats of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) and Attachment of Officers from CLMV for AEC and ASCC Involvement, both at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Chairman’s Statement of the 24th ASEAN-Japan Summit 
27 October 2021
Virtual Meeting 

Aiming to narrow the development gaps between CLMV and other ASEAN Member States, the project contributes to the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025), Enabling Action II. Capacity building for government officials to share best practices in administration, public policy, governance, and regulatory development. Further, it fosters the ASEAN-Japan commitment to strengthening people-to-people connectivity, which is one of the key areas outlined in the ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) adopted at the 23rd Japan-ASEAN Summit in 2020.

As per the work plan, the project is implemented for one year from 2022 to 2023.

As of 30 November 2022

1 The World Bank, GDP per capita – East Asia & Pacific, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=Z4 (accessed 14 November 2022)

2 United Nations Development Programme, 2020 Human Development Report: Table 1: Human Development Index and its Components, https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2021-22_HDR/HDR21-22_Statistical_Annex_HDI_Table.xlsx (accessed 14 November 2022)

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