Most Southeast Asian countries are still developing economies with significant financing needs, notably for infrastructure, human development, and responding to climate change. International development cooperation has, therefore, a critical role to play. Yet, development support from the international community has dwindled to the lowest level ever recorded.

Understanding the scale and contours of development finance in Southeast Asia is of critical interest to governments in the region and their development partners.

The seminar will consider how the sourcing, composition, and quantum of development finance has been evolving over the past decade, and its implications for the region, presently and into the future. It will draw upon the findings of a recent study from the Lowy Institute that tracks and analyzes more than 120,000 development projects in Southeast Asia from 107 partners from 2015 onwards.

Speakers

• Alexandre Dayant, Senior Economist and Deputy Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre, Lowy Institute
• Satish Chand, Professor of Economics, School of Business, University of New South Wales; Research Associate, National Research Institute, Papua New Guinea; Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University
• Stephen Howes, Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Director, Development Policy Centre
• Sarah Y. Tong, Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National Institute of Singapore