Advancing the ASEAN-US Enhanced Partnership

ADVANCE

From Shared Vision to ASEAN Community

ADVANCE Broadens U.S. Assistance to ASEAN

The United States shares ASEAN’s vision for integration, peace and prosperity. Through the ASEAN Development Vision to Advance National Cooperation and Economic Integration (ADVANCE), the U.S. government will deliver technical assistance to the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Member States in support of their goal for realizing that vision – an ASEAN Community by 2015. Awarded in September 2007, ADVANCE is an indefinite quantity contract funded by the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Over the next five to eight years, USAID Missions and other U.S. Government agencies will be able to use ADVANCE for targeted, quick response technical assistance to support the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership Plan of Action and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. ADVANCE projects will be implemented on a regional, sub regional, and bilateral level to help public and private sector stakeholders achieve regional integration through the development of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community: economic, political-security and socio-cultural. ADVANCE will address a wide range of issues under the three pillars, from integration of small and medium size enterprises, to regional environmental issues, to workforce development.

One of the developing world’s most successful regional organizations, ASEAN intends to further integrate its member countries into an ASEAN community by 2015. The United States actively supports this intention. The Enhanced Partnership, announced by President George Bush and his ASEAN counterparts in 2005, encapsulates the scope of the ASEAN-US relationship.

ADVANCE is already providing technical assistance through four projects:

ADVANCE ASEAN-U.S. Facility – Phase II of the ASEAN-US Technical Assistance and Training Facility is working directly with the ASEAN Secretariat to support ASEAN integration. Serving as the integrator for ADVANCE, the Facility is central to U.S. Government assistance to ASEAN. Technical assistance, training, time-sensitive policy assessments, and advice from specialists at the ASEAN Secretariat support ASEAN blueprints for developing the ASEAN Community across the three pillars. These activities expand on the work of the Phase I Facility launched in 2004.
ADVANCE ASEAN Single Window supports the development of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW)—a system for coordinating the flow of data among national single windows in ASEAN to support more rapid clearance of goods and greater transparency in cross-border transactions. At the same time, the ASW program will support development of the national single windows—national systems that consolidate and coordinate processing of all documents required to import and export goods.
ADVANCE Supply Chains/Competitiveness promotes the competitiveness of ASEAN priority sectors by helping Member States discover and pursue their comparative advantages, leading to greater economic specialization in less-developed ASEAN Member States and to better integration of all Member States into dynamic ASEAN value chains.
Lao ADVANCE – The Lao Bilateral Trade Agreement/World Trade Organization (BTA/WTO) Accession Program provides line ministers and the National Assembly technical assistance and training to help them understand and support the Government of Lao’s efforts to liberalize its trade and investment regime consistent with commitments under the U.S.-Lao BTA, WTO accession requirements and the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint.

The ADVANCE Consortium

The ADVANCE Consortium is well versed in ASEAN cultural, social, and economic issues, having worked together and separately at the ASEAN Secretariat and with Member States. Composed of both U.S. and regional partners, the consortium has extensive experience implementing programs in all technical areas of ADVANCE.

ADVANCE Priority Areas

ASEAN Economic Community
Economic Integration
Trade and Investment liberalization and facilitation
Integration of small and medium enterprise
Strengthening financial systems and capital markets
Economic reform and governance (Telecom & Energy)

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
Public health (HIV/AIDS and AI)
Regional health concerns
Regional disaster management and emergency responses
Regional environmental issues
Promoting civil society
Workforce development
Vulnerable populations
Sustainable energy development
Anti-trafficking

ASEAN Political Security Community
Promotion of good governance
Strengthening of rule of law, judiciary systems, and legal infrastructure
Post-conflict peace building, reconstruction, and rehabilitation

Contacts

USAID Cognizant Technical Officer
E.E. (Skip) Kissinger
Director, Office of General Development
USAID Regional Development Mission/Asia
GPF Witthayu Tower A, 10^th floor, 93/1 Wireless Road
Bangkok, Thailand 10330
(66-2) 263-7466
skissinger@usaid.gov

IQC Manager

James Wallar
jwallar@nathanic.com

Deputy IQC Manager

Teri Simpson Lojewski
tlojewski@nathaninc.com