The ASEAN-US Technical Assistance & Training Facility

Established in 2004 and housed in the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN-US Technical Assistance and Training Facility is central to the United States support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Facility promotes the goals of the US ASEAN Cooperation Plan (ACP); the ASEAN-US Enhanced Partnership Plan of Action; and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement; and supports ASEAN’s vision for a stable, peaceful, and prosperous ASEAN community. The Facility endeavors to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat’s role in regional economic integration, transnational issues, and regional security; enhance economic integration and cooperation; and improve regional responses to transnational issues.

The Facility is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development with funding from the U.S. Department of State. The Facility has developed through two phases and is now in its second phase as the centerpiece of the ASEAN Development Vision to Advance National Cooperation and Economic Integration (ADVANCE) program.

Phase I – Meeting Urgent Needs

From October 2004 to December 2007, the $6 million facility helped the ASEAN Secretariat address immediate obstacle to integration. It provided technical assistance, training, time-sensitive policy assessment, and day-to-day technical advice to support ASEAN’s goals for integration and goals it shared with the U.S. Government. Activities were clustered in nine areas: trade negotiations, investment, trade in services, customs and trade facilitation, integration of ASEAN’s priority sectors, public health, natural resource management, policy coordination and dialogue, and strengthened secretariat resources.

Phase II – Sharpening Focus on 2015

To build on the momentum generated by Phase I, the U.S. Government made the Facility the centerpiece of the ADVANCE program awarded in September 2007, and provided a budget of approximately $20 million. The Facility will operate for the next five to eight years, guided by a long-term strategy aligned directly with ASEAN’s own blueprints for achieving the ASEAN Community by 2015. The Facility continues to provide fast responses technical assistance, training, assessments, and policy advice, but also focuses on tasks essential to building the envisioned community.

Phase I Select Accomplishments

Helped ASEAN streamline its tariff nomenclature
Contributed to the development of an ASEAN Single Window to ease import and export clearance
Sponsored “ASEAN Talks Business” for Secretariat officials to meet business leaders
Helped prepare non-health sectors for potential pandemics
Provided principles of an ASEAN roadmap to integrate logistics services
Develop recommendations for a comprehensive ASEAN Investment Agreement
Overhauled the Secretariat’s IT network to improve communications and security

Phase II Ongoing Work

Helping ASEAN identify barriers to trade in goods in anticipation of further liberalization
Measuring ASEAN’s progress in implementing the economic community
Supporting e-commerce law development
Supporting liberalization of trade in services by helping to compile an inventory of restrictions
Supporting the establishment of systems for settling disputes among Member States

Success Stories

ASEAN Internships Help to Create an “ASEAN Community” pdf
USAID assistance continues to instill ASEAN identity in Associate Officer Program graduates

MRA's Ease Movement of Professionals Among ASEAN Countries pdf
Building awareness of the power of cooperation through practical training in MRA negotiation

Fast and Secure – ASEAN Secretariat IT System Gets a Boost pdf
Equipping the Secretariat for efficient, effective communication and smooth operations

ASEAN Schools Tour Opens Eyes – and Doors – for Students pdf
USAID assistance helps students identify as ASEAN citizens

Streamlining ASEAN Business pdf
USAID assistance helps ease ASEAN customs procedures by eliminating 2,300 tariff lines

Policy Studies and Assessments

Aggarwal, Vinod. “The Political Economy of ASEAN’s Evolution.” October 2006.

Alley, Lisa. “ASEAN Secretariat Communications and Public Relations Plan.” December 2006.

Anas, Tatik, Gene Rosengarden and Moekti Prasetiani Soejachmoen. “ASEAN Rules of Origin Strategic Study”. August 2006.

Anas, Tatik, Gene Rosengarden and Moekti Prasetiani Soejachmoen. “Implications of Changing the ASEAN Rules of Origin”. August 2006.

Banomyong, Ruth and Peter Cook. “Toward a Roadmap for Integration of the ASEAN Logistics Sector: Rapid Assessment and Concept Paper”. March 2007.

Cassidy, Robert. “Foreign Direct Investment: Determinants and Policy Options for ASEAN Countries”. January 2007.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “ASEAN Roadmap for Integration of the Healthcare Sector – an Assessment.” June 2007.

Minor, Pete and Donald Feeney. “Integration of the ASEAN Textile and Apparel Industries in the Post-quota Era.” January 2006.

Naya, Seiji F. and Michael G. Plummer. “Enterprise for ASEAN Initiative Study: Summary of Findings and Methodology.” March 2005.

Plummer, Michael G. “Competing the ASEAN Investment Area: Road Traveled, Road Ahead”. April 2007.

Tyler, Ross. “An Initial Insight into Non-tariff Barriers within Intra-ASEAN Supply Chains.” May 2005.

For inquires on these policy studies or assessments, please contact Mr. Timothy Buehrer, ASEAN-US Facility Chief of Party, at timothy.buehrer@asean.org.