Delgosea general assembly

Building Strong Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia

Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC shared strategy on expanding Southeast Asia Network.

WELCOMING the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN, Democratic Local Self-Governance in Southeast Asia (DELGOSEA) took theme “50 Years of ASEAN: Paving the Way for Local Dynamics in a Regional Context” in its General Assembly and Steering Council Meeting held from 16-17 February 2017 at the Discovery Primea, Makati City, Philippines.

With vision of UCLG ASPAC to advocate democratic local self-government, Secretary General, Bernadia I. Tjandradewi shared strategy on expanding the Southeast Asia network, which is by aligning DELGOSEA with ASEAN Economic Community. This alignment will open room for more and more local governments represented in the ASEAN’s activities and programs. This opportunity was also used

by members of this largest network in Southeast Asia to share their progress to inspire other members and leverage mutual collaboration.

Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN), represented by Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Son, Deputy General Secretary, stated ACVN’s commitment. “We maintain our role to become bridge between city members, communities, stakeholders, as well as organizations, programs, and projects to jointly develop green municipalities for sustainable development,” he said. One of the effort taken is to coordinate partnership for implementation of “Community Development Fund Access” for housing and green house. This method is conducted to help people get rid of their passive condition and actively participate in changing their own lives. It combines the role of community group leader, support of young architects or professionals for coordination, and local authorities for facilitation.

Mr. Daru Pratomo, representing Jambi City, also shared his city’s vision to become the center of trade and services based on community morale and culture. The local government is now promoting entrepreneurial attitude. In this context, local government is ready to formulate local policy that encourages empowerment of small and medium enterprises and cooperatives in the area that leads to commodity processing technology and marketing techniques. Local government also invests in the city’s infrastructure, such as building of hotels, vocational schools, health infrastructure, shopping center, and water front city development. Its local authority is also on the pursuance of making Jambi City as Smart City in 2018, signified by development of public space (pedestrians, parks), smart mobility, and access to internet.

Representing Cambodia Team, Mrs. Prak Sokhany, shared steps taken by National Association of the Capital Provincial Councils (NACPC). One of them is having policy dialogue at national level on functional assignment. For National League of Communes (NLC), it was shared that the organization was coordinating waste management pilot project in Battambang City with support of KAS Manila.

Representatives of Philippines and Laos also addressed issues such as the upcoming ASEAN Mayor’s Forum in Phillippines as well the continuous effort to set up the National Steering Council in Laos.

As for the DELGOSEA Steering Council Meeting, Sri Indah Wibi Nastiti, Deputy Coordinator of DELGOSEA, emphasized on the needs for evaluation so DELGOSEA can benefit (deliver tangible results) its members. Benedikt Seeman, KAS Manila, also insisted to enhance opportunities of DELGOSEA Network on its way to the ASEAN level.