ASEAN Forum to Set the Stage for Minding the Development Gap
24 October 2012, ASEAN Secretariat News
As ASEAN faces challenges to better integrate new members and the lesser-developed areas into economic competitiveness that is regional as well as global, one critical issue that ASEAN will have to contend with is the need to narrow development gaps.
The Fourth Initiative for ASEAN Integration Development Cooperation Forum (IDCF), scheduled on 29 October 2012 at the ASEAN Hall, will set the stage for important discussions on how critical it is for ASEAN to address disparities in and among Member States in order to realise the ASEAN Community by 2015.
The Forum will provide information about progress on the implementation of Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plans as well as update dialogue partners, development agencies, policy makers, and the public at large of key challenges facing CLMV countries and ASEAN in the quest to narrow the development divide.
The IDCF was established to serve as the main venue for engaging ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners and other donors in a collective dialogue on the IAI Work Plan. Making this forum the fourth, three IDCFs have previously been organised, in 2002, 2007, and 2010.
