Page 32 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

For ASEAN member nations, eradication of poverty is not only a priority in the national
development agendas but at the regional level as well. Within ASEAN, these include several
designated ministerial meetings such as the ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Rural Development
and Poverty Eradication (AMRDPE) and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare
and Development (AMMSWD) which meets regularly to discuss updates and to plan
mechanism frameworks for member countries.

One such example of a mechanism framework is the ASEAN Framework Action Plan on Rural
Development and Poverty Eradication 2016-2020 that ASEAN introduced as part of its
regional cooperative effort to address poverty. Another example is the ASEAN Infrastructure
Fund (AIF) incorporated in 2012 which brings together ASEAN member countries and the
Asian Development Bank in an effort to solve the infrastructure bottleneck which has
contributed to development gaps amongst ASEAN members. Consideration for sustainable
practises and socially inclusive practises are also requirements for projects funded by the AIF.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) report in 2017
outlined the complementary parallels between the ASEAN’s Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda
for development (ESCAP 2017). The report identified five priority areas in order to guide the
organisation’s effort to meaningfully incorporate the SDGs. The five priority areas are 1)
poverty eradication, 2) infrastructure and connectivity, 3) sustainable management of natural
resources, 4) sustainable consumption and production, and 5) resilience.

The EU has formally enshrined an approach and commitment to equitable and sustainable
development. Although poverty is less severe for EU member countries, there are still
challenges such as the recent 2008 economic challenge, and the changing demographics in
terms of a shrinking and ageing population. At the regional level, EU provides support for its
member countries in order to enhance social protection and inclusion. EU provides its member
countries with access to social investment packages (European Commission, 2018b).

The Common Agricultural Fund (CAP) has also long served as a tool to ensure the rural
agricultural sector of EU member countries remain competitive and ensure a “fair standard of
living” for the farmers, as well as help maintain EU rural communities (European Commission,
2018a). One of the contemporary mechanisms under the CAP includes the European
Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) 2014-2020 which contributes to rural
development programs in EU member countries. The priority areas of these rural development
programs include specific measures for sustainable and equitable development and are
monitored by the EU.

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EU has also shown commitment to sustainable development since the beginning of the 21
Century. The EU Sustainable Development Strategy 2001 states that “in the long term,
economic growth, social cohesion, and environmental protection must go hand in hand”
(European Commission, 2001). The EU also monitored the progress made on the commitments
through a comprehensive set of indicators which the EU reviewed in 2007 and 2009 (European
Commission, 2016a). The European 2020 Strategy has also mainstreamed sustainable
development into EU’s agenda. With the advent of the SDGs in 2016, the European
Commission released the “European Action for Sustainability” which integrates the SDGs into
the European Commission’s ten priority areas (European Commission, 2016b).

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