1 - Emerging Donor States' Strategy: Focusing on the Thailand and Indonesia

This study aims to compare and analyze Indonesia and Thailand as emerging donor states. Both of these Southeast Asian nations are middle-power countries that are currently implementing international development cooperation projects to achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, their International Development Cooperation (IDC) profiles are quite different. Based on available information, this study seeks to address two questions. First, why do some countries follow the OECD system while others do not? Second, what differences do the IDCs of emerging donor countries show within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? 
The paper approaches these questions from a historical perspective. Thailand joined the Colombo Plan in 1954 and helped host a training program financed by more advanced countries at that time. In 1955, Indonesia, as host of the Asia Africa Conference, signed the Bandung Declaration emphasizing the importance of South-South Cooperation. At the same time, this study considers the relevance of the different geopolitical locations of Thailand, located in mainland Southeast Asia, and Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago, and how it affects their IDC profiles. For instance, Thailand’s IDCs build upon its considerable expertise in the health and medical sector, have a relatively high proportion of loans tied for, and maintain a regional emphasis on Mekong region countries including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV). Indonesia’s foreign aid increased during a period of economic growth in the 1990s, enabling Indonesia to expand its Official Development Assistance (ODA), particularly in the field of technical cooperation.

Co-Author 1
Hyojung Kim, Kyung Hee University