ASEAN Economic Integration Lessons Learned Database Project
AADCP-RPS
APPLICATION FORM
PROJECT TITLE
ASEAN Economic Integration Lessons Learned Database Project
ASEAN Proponent / ASEAN Secretariat Information Management Unit (note: a fictitious unit)Australian Proponent / MABUEL Partners Pty Ltd
Australian Contracting Partner
/ MABUEL Partners Pty LtdAmount Requested from RPS
AUD / 298,456[s1] / 77.7 / % of total project costContents
A / Project Proposal SummaryB / Project Details
C / Compliance with AADCP RPS Criteria
D / Summary of Project Financing
E / Logical Framework
F / Cost Schedule
G / Budget Template
Attachments
Attachment 1 / Applicant’s DetailsAttachment 2 / CV for Key Project Personnel
Attachment 3 / Letter of Commitment from Project Partners
IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE
AADCP-REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS SCHEME COORDINATION UNIT (RPSCU) - August 2005
This completed RPS Application Form (and associated budget – refer to separate spreadsheet) has been prepared as an example only to guide prospective RPS applicants on the type of information required in an RPS Application. Please note that this example proposal is completely fictitious. Examples for Attachments 1, 2 and 3 have not been provided. Text in red and comments boxes provide further instructions (view in tracked changes mode).
Please note that following the preparation of this example Application Form, the RPS Application Form template and Application Guidelines have undergone some changes, and are expected to undergo further changes for future funding rounds. Therefore, some sections that appear in this form may be slightly different to the form that applicants are to use for the current RPS funding round. It is imperative that applicants use the current application form on the RPS website and DO NOT edit this example application for submission. If you are unsure of which form to use, please contact the RPSCU (see page 2 for contact details).
i. INSTRUCTIONS
Please use this template to complete your project application for Regional Partnerships Scheme (RPS) funding.
Applicants should refer to the RPS Application Guidelines on the RPS website ( when completing this application. These guidelines outline the procedures and criteria for project appraisal and selection under the AADCP-RPS funding mechanism. These guidelines are intended to guide prospective applicants in their application process and to ensure that project applications for funding support are prepared and submitted in accordance with the prescribed format, procedures and criteria.
Applicants are advised to read through these guidelines carefully and to ensure that their application adheres closely to the guidelines. Special care should be taken to ensure that all sections in the application form are completed and that all required attachments are submitted together with the application. Non-complying application forms will not be accepted by the Regional Partnerships Scheme Coordination Unit (RPSCU).
Prior to the submission of the project application form, applicants are required to first submit a Concept Paper (using the template on the RPS website) which has been approved by the Regional Partnerships Scheme.
For further information or technical advice with the application procedures or criteria, applicants may contact the Project Coordinator or Project Officer of the RPSCU in Jakarta (see details below).
Once the project application is complete, please email the completed application form and all supporting documentation to the RPSCU. Four signed hard copies of the application should also be forwarded to the RPSCU.
Please note however that RPSCU has limited size for emails. No emails should be sent with attachments over 1MB.
RPSCU Contact Details:
AADCP RPS Coordination Unit
ASEAN Secretariat, Second Floor
70A Jalan Sisingamangaraja
Jakarta, Indonesia
Phone: +62-21 724 3372, +62-21 726 2991 - extension 150
Fax: +62-21-7278 7252, +62-21-739 8234
E-mail:
AADCP Regional Partnerships Scheme Application FormPage 1 of 38
(Interim RPS Application Form Template – last updated 12 November 2004)
Section A: Project Proposal Summary
Section A: Project Proposal Summary
Project TitleASEAN Economic Integration Lessons Learned Database Project / For AADCP Use Only
Application Number: …………………
Date Received: ……/……/200…
NOTE – the section below on the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) has been changed in the current RPS Application form due to the introduction of the VAP Priority Sectors for funding. Not all of these VAP areas listed below are now available for RPS funding. Refer to the current RPS Forms and Guidelines, and VAP Priority Sector Listing document, available on the RPS website, for further information.
Vientiane Action Program Reference (tick the relevant boxes)1. / ASEAN Security Community
/ (a) Political development
/ (b) Shaping and sharing of norms
/ (c) Conflict prevention
/ (d) Conflict resolution
/ (e) post-conflict peace building
2. / ASEAN Economic Community
/ (a) initial eleven priority sectors for integration
/
- Wood-Based Products
/
- Automotive
/
- Rubber-Based Products
/
- Textiles and Apparels
/
- Agro-Based Products
/
- Fisheries
/
- Electronics
/
- e-ASEAN
/
- Healthcare
/
- Air Travel
/
- Tourism
/ (b) ASEAN Investment Area
/
- Investment liberalisation
/
- Investment facilitation
/
- Investment promotion
/ (c) Trade in goods
/
- Tariffs
/
- Non-tariff barriers
/
- ASEAN Integration System of Preference (AISP)
/
- Food, agriculture and forestry sector
/
- Trade in minerals
/
- Trade facilitation (ie: customs; rules of origin; standards and conformance)
/
- Intellectual property
/
- Industrial Cooperation and enterprise development (ie: industrial cooperation; small and medium enterprises)
/ (d) Trade in services
/
- Services liberalisation
/
- Tourism
/ (e) Financial cooperation
/ (f) Transport
/ (g) Telecommunications and IT
/ (h) Science and Technology
/ (i) Energy
/ (j) Institutional strengthening
/
- Dispute Settlement Mechanism
/
- Statistics
/ (k) Economic relations with Dialogue Partners
3. / ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
/ (a) Building a community of caring societies
/ (b) Managing the social impact of economic integration
/ (c) Promoting environmental sustainability
/ (d) Promoting an ASEAN identity
4. / Goals and strategies for narrowing the development gap
Note – Narrowing the development gap is considered to be an issue that cuts across the three Communities, and proposals addressing any topic should include strategies for narrowing the development gap.
Please provide a brief description of your project including problems that need to be addressed, the intended objectives, the expected outputs and the target beneficiaries:
ASEAN Member Countrieshave implemented a range of economic integration initiatives based on the Hanoi Plan of Action (HPA) and other planning and policy documents. With the recent development of the Vientiane Action Program (VAP), the successor of the HPA, there is a need to ensure that the lessons learned from previous initiatives are incorporated into future ASEAN activities. Such an approach will ensure that available resources from ASEAN Member Countries and dialogue partners are efficiently and effectively used.
The VAP section on ‘Implementation Mechanisms’ indicates that:
There are potentially five levels of cooperation among the ASEAN Member Countries in moving towards the ASEAN Community. The levels are:
- Confidence-building, an initial step characterised by understanding common problems, exploring common interests and identifying mutual gains of cooperating on a regional basis;
- Harmonisation, which aims to achieve compatible national approaches by ASEAN Member Countries;
- Special assistance, which focuses on capacity building to bridge development gaps across Member Countries, in particular, for less developed countries;
- Joint efforts, which are about developing regional approaches and regional institutions; and
- Regional integration and expansion, where regional institutions can act in unison to further the ASEAN cause on behalf of Member Countries to attain the intended goals and objectives.
Accordingly, the implementation and coordination mechanisms for the VAP, the resource mobilisation strategy and the success measures to be used for monitoring and evaluating a project under the VAP should be fine-tuned to fit the level of cooperation and the type of development intervention.
To achieve these objectives there is a need for relevant data that can assist ASEAN planners. To this effect, the key problems are:
- There is no mechanism to collect and collate lessons learned from prior ASEAN economic integration activities to inform future planning and activity implementation;
- There is limited consideration of using lessons learned in formulating ASEAN wide interventions particularly within ASEC and with dialogue partners.
The project aims to:
1)confirm the information needs of potential users of a lessons learned database;
2)implement a data collection process and develop cost effective data maintenance and update processes;
3)develop a database structure and enter the initial data; and
4)conduct training and dissemination on database use as a planning tool.
At the conclusion of the project it is envisaged that ASEC will have a lessons learned database that has cost effective updating processes, and that is being used by ASEC planners, ASEAN Member Country personnel and dialogue partners to improve efficiency of economic integration activities.
Project Partners (must include at least one ASEAN organisation and one Australian Coordinating Partner)
Name of Australian Coordinating Partner / Government / NGO / Academic / Private firm etc
MABUEL Partners Pty Ltd / Private Firm
Other Australian Partners
(if any)
NA
ASEAN Partner
ASEAN Secretariat Information Management Unit / Multilateral Organisation
ASEAN Counterparts in each ASEAN Nation
i. NA
Total Project Budget: / Australian Dollars $383,946[s2] / 100%
RPS funded component: / Australian Dollars $298,456[s3] / 77.7%
Partner funded component: / Australian Dollars $85,490[s4] / 22.3%
Proposed Commencement Date (01/07/2005) / Proposed Completion Date
(30/08/2006)
AADCP Regional Partnerships Scheme Application FormPage 1 of 38
(Interim RPS Application Form Template – last updated 12 November 2004)
Section B: Project Details
Section B: Project Details
1. PROJECT TITLE AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION (describe the project in two sentences)ASEAN Economic Integration Lessons Learned Database Project: The project aims to establish a database that collates lessons learned from previous economic integration activities conducted by ASEAN. An update strategy and associated dissemination of information benefits to ASEC personnel, ASEAN dialogue partners and ASEAN Member Country representatives will also be undertaken.
2. ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED(a brief statement of the issues)
The key problems include:
- There is no mechanism to collect and collate lessons learned from prior ASEAN economic integration activities to inform future planning and activity implementation; and
- There is limited consideration of using lessons learned in formulating ASEAN wide interventions particularly within ASEC and with dialogue partners.
2.a Issues Analysis (What are the underlying causes of the issues to be addressed?)
ASEAN Secretariat personnel and ASEAN Member Countries have gained an immense range of experiences from the implementation of the HPA. In addition, dialogue partners are also able to offer insights into their interaction with ASEAN and the support of ASEAN priorities. While the HPA has been superseded by the VAP there is the potential that negative experiences will be repeated or positive experiences overlooked during the implementation of the VAP.
As in all organisations, time erodes corporate memory, and it is easy for positive and negative lessons learned to be lost through staff movement. Larger organisations like the Secretariat and ASEAN Member Country agencies often can’t make the best use of such lessons due to a lack of information communication channels which causes relevant information to be ‘locked’ in discrete areas of the organisation, unknown to others.
While past lessons are important for organisational efficiency, a mechanism to regularly record current lessons is also invaluable to planners and decision makers within an organisation.
2.b Suggested Solution (Discuss other initiatives to date and how this project builds upon existing needs)
ASEC is cognisant of the importance of recording the successes and limitations of the HPA and of ensuring that the VAP implementation does not make the same mistakes. This analysis tends to be at a higher policy level and lacks operational issues that impact on ASEC staff, ASEAN Member Country personnel and dialogue partners in progressing the ASEAN agenda. For example, a mid term review of the HPA identified lack of funding and a lack of planning skills as impediments to economic integration progress but a lack of data on lower level issues such as committee operations, desk office time allocation, committee management etc., made the report incomplete. The inability to report on these issues also meant that no strategies were developed to deal with such issues.
It is proposed that a lessons learned database be established that is accessible to ASEC personnel and which contains relevant information from a range of stakeholders, organised in a way that is appropriate for planners and managers. Associated with this is an update mechanism to ensure that future successes and limitations are recorded.
3. PROJECT OBJECTIVES (Objectives refers to what the project aims to achieve)
The overall project goal is to improve ASEAN planning and activity implementation by collecting and collating lessons learned from economic integration related projects.
The Project Objective is: To develop a lessons learned database that provides information to assist implementation of activities associated with the VAP.
4. PROJECT OUTPUTS(provide a list of expected outputs for the proposed project. Outputs are described as completed measurable activities which contribute to achieving the project objectives. Some examples are: “Workshops conducted for 100 Customs Supervisors in 10 ASEAN Countries”; “Field monitoring trip conducted, report prepared and submitted to Australian Managing Contractor”.)
Output 1: The information needs of planners and decision makers within ASEC confirmed.
For a lessons learned database to be effective, it needs to contain information in a format and of sufficient level of detail to be of benefit to potential users. A cross section of potential users from ASEC and ASEAN Member Country representatives will be surveyed (using interview or other survey techniques) and the identified needs documented. In addition, primary and secondary data sources will also be identified. The results of these surveys will determine the size and scope of the data collection process.
Output 2: Primary and secondary data collected and ongoing data collection processes developed.
ASEC personnel in the Bureau of External Relations and Coordination, Bureau of Finance Integration Support, and Bureau of Economic Integration will be interviewed to determine lessons learned (both positive and negative) that they have experienced. Documentation from prior and current projects and activities will also be reviewed with the aim of extracting relevant information. The consultants will travel to each of the member countries to interview relevant committee and working group members. Major dialogue partners, identified by ASEC, will be surveyed either face-to-face or via other survey mechanisms.
While the principle purpose of the activities under this output will be data collection, stakeholders will also be asked about potential ongoing information sharing and data collection mechanisms as a precursor to the documentation of an ongoing data maintenance and update strategy.
Output 3: Database developed and datacollated and entered.
The database structure will be developed and test data will be entered and trialled with a focus group. Collation will occur in parallel with database development. Modifications to the database structure, and query and reporting functions will be made prior to the entry of all collated data. Final testing of the database will occur with a focus group and any further modifications made prior to the conduct of Output 4.
Output 4: Training materials prepared and training delivered to ASEC staff with information provided to ASEAN Member Country personnel.
Simple training materials will be prepared which could include hard copy and web based materials. All ASEC staff will be exposed to the database and given instruction on its use. Training sessions will generally be 1 to 2 hours in a group format over a 1.5 month period. Adhoc training over a 1.5 month period will be required to ensure that all ASEC officers have the opportunity to attend (based on travel commitments). Training will be conducted by the ASEC personnel responsible for database management and update.
An information pack will also be prepared for distribution (electronically) to ASEAN Member Country representatives on committees and working groups relevant to the ASEAN economic integration agenda. The information packs will describe the purpose of the database and the process for entering new information.
5. ACTIVITIES REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THESE OUTPUTS (For each output, provide details of the activities to be implemented, the person(s) implementing the activities and the location of the activities)
Output 1: The information needs of planners and decision makers within ASEC confirmed.
Activity 1.1: Develop survey instruments and survey sampling in conjunction with ASEC Information Management Unit
Meetings will be held between the lead consultant, data management specialist, personnel from the ASEC Information Management Unit and personnel from the ASEC Bureau for External Relations and Coordination to:
- Confirm the sample size of ASEC personnel and requirements to interviewASEAN Member Country personnel and dialogue partners;
- Discuss survey instruments that are appropriate for the various groups; and
- Discuss the availability of secondary data available within ASEC and from ASEAN Member Country agencies.