[GPI Side Event] Triangular Co-operation: A Modality for the Asian Century (GSSD Expo) – Bangkok, 2022

At the beginning of the 21^st century, the word of the “Asian Century” spread. Long-term forecasts of the Asian Development Bank predicted that the region will likely generate more than 50% of the world’s GDP by 2040 and account for 40% of world consumption. The analysis concluded that in order to sustain Asia’s growth trajectory while approximating sustainable development, action is needed on three levels: the national action agendas, regional co-operation and collaboration, and the global agenda.

However, the current decade started with unprecedented global challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic posed a severe setback in the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The economic recovery from the pandemic is now imperiled by the direct and indirect consequences of Russia’s invasion to Ukraine. The challenges are enormous and resources available for sustainable development to either developed and developing countries are under stress. Therefore, there is a pressing need to harness new forms of partnership for knowledge sharing and innovative thinking on global development. And due to their strong economic development in the early 21^st century, some of the most important partners for global development hail from Asia.

Triangular co-operation, a relatively new modality promoting horizontal co-operation for sustainable development, sparks a lot of interest and debate in this context. It fosters capacity building and joint learning, it realizes on complementarities, it intensifies coordination and boosts synergy in the allocation of resources. The modality is on the rise globally, and GPI members use it more strategically to engage with partners across the globe to drive sustainable development. Finding it adaptable and flexible, the development community engages in triangular co-operation across all regions, with the fastest growth in Africa and Asia, according to OECD data.

These trends call for a discussion about how triangular co-operation can be a practical tool for Asian providers of South-South Co-operation in furthering the achievement of the SDGs. The Asian region hosts pioneers of triangular co-operation, such as Japan, India, Indonesia and Thailand – who worked in triangular partnerships long before the modality gained global popularity. Topics that have been addressed include climate change mitigation, governance and institutional capacity, tackling inequalities, competition for finite natural resources, and fostering trade co-operation between countries and sub-regions in Asia. Therefore, there is a wealth of experience in Asia on triangular co-operation ready to be shared.

Since 2021, the German “Regional Fund for Triangular Cooperation with Asia”[i] aims to foster innovative triangular co-operation initiatives among Asian partners through projects, capacity development and policy dialogue.

This side event aims to reflect on triangular cooperation against the background of Asia’s development – once home to classic drivers of growth, but increasingly generating new drivers of transformation amidst a time of global challenges. The goal is to provide a space for policy dialogue and exchange on how triangular partnerships can be a tool to foster sustainable development in the “Asian Century”.

Recording is available here.

Programme

Opening remarks
Mr Wattanawit Gajeseni, Deputy Director General, Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA)

Keynote speaker
Ms Anthea Mulakala, Senior Director for International Development Cooperation, The Asia Foundation

Focused discussion

• Mr Jochen Weikert, Head of the German Regional Fund for Triangular Cooperation with Asia – GIZ, Germany
• Ms Yu Jia, Director of International Development and Cooperation Department from Institute of New Structural Economics – Peking University, China
• Mr Yulius Purwadi Hermawan, Lecturer, Researcher and Consultant, International Development Cooperation and Foreign Policy – Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung Indonesia
• Ms Natalia Vargas Talero, Social Cohesion and South-South Cooperation – Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB)
• Mr Eiji Wakamatsu, Director Office for Global Issues and Development Partnership – JICA, Japan

Q&A with the audience

Moderator: Ms Geovana Zoccal, Focal Point, GPI on Effective Triangular Co-operation

[i] The Fund for Triangular Cooperation with Asia is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The Fund seeks to promote sustainable development in developing countries via triangular cooperation. To this end, the Fund creates a support mechanism that encompasses three fields of action: Implementation of Triangular Cooperation projects, Policy Dialogue and Capacity Development.