ASEAN Australia Development Cooperation Program

ASEAN Australia Development Cooperation Program

Download the AADCP Information Brochure here. [ pdf 811 KB]

The ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Program (AAECP) was established in 1974 to promote cooperation between Australia and ASEAN in areas of agreed regional development priority. The program has evolved to keep pace with significant economic progress in South East Asia and the maturing nature of the ASEAN-Australia relationship. The current phase of AAECP is currently winding down and expected to complete in 2005.
In early 1999, ASEAN and Australia agreed to commence development of a future phase of the ASEAN Australia Economic Cooperation Program. The new phase includes the new members of ASEAN - Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar - and is called the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program (AADCP).

The goal of the program is to promote sustainable development within ASEAN, by assisting ASEAN to tackle priority regional development challenges through regional cooperation. Specific objectives of the AADCP are:

• to strengthen regional economic and social cooperation (including macro-economic and financial cooperation, economic integration, social policy formulation and systems, and AFTA-CER linkages);
• to strengthen regional institutional capacities;
• to strengthen science, technology and environmental cooperation;
• to expedite the new ASEAN Member Countries’ integration into ASEAN by supporting their participation in ASEAN cooperation programs.

The AADCP consists of three core elements, namely: (i) a program to support ASEAN economic integration and competitiveness-related activities, (ii) a flexible mechanism for smaller collaborative activities (the Regional Partnerships Scheme), and (iii) an economic policy research facility in the ASEAN Secretariat (the Regional Economic Policy Support Facility).

The AADCP Program Stream, with a budget of $A20 million, consists of two sub-programs, which in turn comprises a series of smaller joint ASEAN-Australian activities contributing to the broader program objectives. These sub-programs are called: “Strengthening ASEAN Economic Integration” and “Enhancing ASEAN Competitiveness”.

The AADCP Regional Partnerships Scheme supports the implementation of a range of smaller scale regional development activities, developed by ASEAN and Australian entities, funded in rounds over a period of five years ($A15 million).

The AADCP Regional Economic Policy Support Facility supports a range of priority regional policy research activities, to be undertaken by ASEAN and Australian research entities. It is being implemented over a period of five years and has a budget of around $A9 million.

integration.