AREA STUDIES DIVISION

Area Studies

Capacity Building for Timor-Leste in ASEAN/AFTA (Phase III)

Commissioned by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) of Japan, this project is a continuation of the Phase II study. A one-month internship programme was held at the Institute for three lecturers from the East Timor National University from 11 August to 10 September 2006 to undertake research on issues of concern to their country by drawing on the Malaysian experience. Their research topics included: (a) Macroeconomic Dimension: Implications for Timor-Leste Membership in ASEAN; (b) Exports and Imports: Challenges and Opportunities for Timor-Leste under ASEAN; and (c) Employment Creation through Regional Economic Integration: Scope and Limitations. Their research findings and results subsequently were presented to a wider domestic and international audience in an international conference in Dili, Timor-Leste.

A one-and-a-half day international conference on "Economic Development of Timor-Leste: The Role of Regional Co-operation" with the theme "The ASEAN Option for Timor-Leste" was successfully held in Dili, Timor-Leste on 22-23 January 2007. It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Timor-Leste and MIER. A total of 50 participants attended the conference. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, H.E. Dr Jose Luis Guterres delivered the Keynote Address. At the conference, apart from the papers by the three interns, there were other invited speakers/resource persons from Timor-Leste and several ASEAN member countries.

Macroeconomic Development and Medium-term Forecasting of Economic Development of Azerbaijan (Phase II)

Commissioned by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) of Japan, this project is a continuation of the Phase I study. The primary objective of this joint project is to procure services to help strengthen the Government of Azerbaijan's capacity for macroeconomic management and medium-term forecasting.

A meeting was held at the Institute on 25-27 July 2006 between the two parties to discuss findings and results of the study. During the meeting the Azerbaijan team explained how they conducted the survey. They also presented the results of their survey exercise and calculated business and consumer confidence indices based on MIER's formula. Azerbaijan is an economy in transition, therefore it will take awhile before people become comfortable in releasing information/opinions to others. The objective of the surveys to the Azerbaijan team is slightly different from that of MIER's. They intend to get information on the level of "optimism" in the non-oil sectors of Azerbaijan since there is scarce data on these sectors, whereas data on the oil industry is readily available. Although the oil sector is doing well due to high prices, the survey finds that the business confidence of non-oil sectors has remained flat, indicating that the oil revenue has not spilled over to the rest of the economy. This is also supported by the results from the Azeri consumer sentiments survey. A one-day workshop entitled "Macroeconomic Analysis and methods of Monitoring" was successfully held on 16 January 2007 in Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan. This completed Phase II of the project.

Study Visit on Industrial Development in Malaysia by Delegation from Pakistan under JICA's Counterpart Study on "Direction of SME Development in Pakistan: Through the Experiences of Japan and Malaysia"

The objective of the training course, commissioned and funded by the Japan International Cooperation Fund (JICA), was to increase the knowledge of the delegates with regard to Malaysia's industrial development. The Malaysian leg of the training course from 1-4 August 2007 included a classroom lecture and study visits to government agencies/private sector associations like MITI. MIDA, and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. The study team members were made up of a member of Pakistan's Planning commission, a Vice Chancellor from one of the universities, the high profile private-sector industry association individuals.

Joint Training Course on Trade and Investment of African Nations under JICA Programme in Malaysia (Phases I and II)

Commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Institute undertook a joint training course entitled "Facilitation of Trade and Investment in the Indian-rim Economic Region for African Countries" for nine (9) middle- to high-ranking administrative officials engaged in trade- and investment-related work from Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. This supplementary training course in Malaysia was funded by JICA and took off from 1-8 September 2007. It included both classroom lectures and study visits to organizations in the Klang Valley. The project is a continuation of the Phase I study, which was completed end-March 2007.

The overall objective of the training course is to enable the delegates to gain useful insights into the economic development experiences of Malaysia, the facilitation of trade and investment in Malaysia and an assessment of the successes and problems associated with the institutional strategies adopted by Malaysia. The delegation would also have an opportunity to acquire insights into factors that have guided Malaysia's economic development strategy in the past.

Specifically, the delegates would gain useful information, both good practices and lessons, about how to formulate policy by understanding the Malaysian history of economic development through trade and investment promotion. Also, the training in Malaysia would allow time for the delegates to analyse how to strengthen bilateral economic relationships with Malaysia in the future. Through this process, it is hoped, the delegates would recognise the potential of Malaysia as a strong trade and investment partner of Malaysia as a strong trade and investment partner.

ERIA Project on ASEAN Integration: Development Schemes Supporting CLMV Countries

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam joined ASEAN just as economic integration was accelerating. Concerns about the development gap hindering integration led to the launching of ASEAN's IAI (Initiative for ASEAN Integration) Work Plan. The results of a case study of the implementation aspects of an actual Work Plan project however raises concerns about whether Work Plan objectives are being realized because of effectiveness issues. The paper concludes by recommending the strengthening of measures to ensure effective and efficient project implementation, widening the scope of the Work Plan, incorporating the programme into other existing development assistance frameworks, as well as expanding it into a wider regional initiative for East Asian integration. The project is scheduled for in January 2008.