Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

C/MIN(2024)4/FINAL
Unclassified

English/French
3 May 2024

COUNCIL

Meeting of the Council at Ministerial Level, 2-3 May 2024

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE OECD STRATEGIC FRAMEWORKFOR THE INDO-PACIFIC

JT03543042
OFDE
This document is issued under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD anddoes not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD Members.

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory,
to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

2  C/MIN(2024)4/FINAL1.
On 7-8 June 2023, the OECD Council at Ministerial Level approved the OECD StrategicFramework for the Indo-Pacific [C/MIN(2023)19/FINAL] (hereafter the “Strategic Framework”), which
foresees that “the OECD will develop a plan to implement this Strategic Framework, in full consultationand co-operation with partners in the region through existing mechanisms before the OECD Ministerial
Council Meeting in 2024”.
Implementation Plan
2.
This Implementation Plan builds on existing global relations tools, and their underlying
mandates, budgets and policy areas of engagement, through the Southeast Asia Regional Programme(SEARP); Key Partnerships with the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”), India and Indonesia;
the Thailand Country Programme; the engagement with Viet Nam and Singapore; and with regionalorganisations and institutions. It includes existing structures enhancing OECD presence in the region,
namely the OECD Tokyo Centre and OECD Offices in Jakarta and Beijing, and proposes additional
physical presence with ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia and in New Delhi, India.
3.
The Implementation Plan addresses the objectives of the Strategic Framework with anemphasis on:••••••••building strong, inclusive and sustainable economies;
working together to mitigate and adapt to climate change, promoting the energy transition toclimate neutrality while protecting energy security, countering biodiversity loss, pollution, otherforms of environmental degradation and strengthening ocean governance as well as a focus onplastics and the circular economy;
managing the digital transformation and work to improve trusted connectivity;
strengthening cyber and digital security;
promoting human development by delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, including
gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, decent work and economic growth, quality
education, reducing inequality and enhancing wellbeing;
attracting more, better, and safe foreign direct investment;
building more resilient and sustainable supply-chains; andprotecting and strengthening the global rules-based trading system.

4.
These policy areas will be incorporated where possible in all the existing global relations tools,
and potentially be subject to new projects and partnerships with the region. The Strategic Framework calls
for working closely with the countries of the Indo-Pacific to:••••increase their alignment with OECD standards with a view to potentially adhere to OECD legalinstruments;
substantially enhance the participation of Indo-Pacific countries in OECD bodies and identify
Indo-Pacific countries for possible OECD membership;
increase high-level engagement between the OECD and Indo-Pacific countries; andstrengthen institutional relationships with key regional organisations.

Outputs of the Implementation Plan5.
Making OECD standards count on a global scale. Working towards making OECD standards
count on a global scale, the Implementation Plan focused on engaging with partner countries from theregion in areas ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence, the digital transformation, cyber anddigital security, quality infrastructure investment, resilient and sustainable supply chains and inclusive
growth. This would foster not only greater familiarity with OECD standards, but also increased
participation with OECD bodies, including benchmarking analyses of selected countries.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE OECD STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE INDO-PACIFIC
Unclassified

C/MIN(2024)4/FINAL  3•Technical, capacity-building, and twinning seminars on key OECD legal instruments forIndonesia, Thailand and other Indo-Pacific countries.

•Gap studies, practical and detailed policy briefs and training workshops to assess alignmentwith OECD legal instruments.

6.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Since its launch in 2014, the SEARP has
worked closely with ASEAN and supported the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Chairs with a number ofdeliverables. These include, amongst others, the ASEAN Principles for Public Private Partnerships,
ASEAN Principles on Good Business Registration Practice, and ASEAN Guidelines of Micro Enterprises.
Endorsed by ASEAN Leaders, the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) identified theOECD as a partner in its implementation plan. This was followed by the first MOU between ASEAN andthe OECD signed in February 2022 at the SEARP Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, Korea. The
Implementation Plan aligns with national and regional frameworks, including the ASEAN Outlook on theIndo-Pacific (AOIP). To further strengthen this relationship, it is proposed to have an in-country liaison
officer responsible for enhancing OECD relations with the ASEAN Secretariat and for liaising with
ASEAN Member States and ASEAN partners.
7.
Asia/OECD awareness: a two-way approach through fostering greater understanding of theOECD in Asia and Asia in the OECD. The Implementation Plan could encourage more staff on loan fromgovernments of Asian countries to the Organisation, who can then contribute to the understanding ofOECD matters back in capitals. In addition to the existing engagement with Thailand, Viet Nam, andSingapore, a particular focus would be placed on Indonesia. The Implementation Plan could also promotesecondments of OECD officials to partner organisations and institutions based in the region, including theAsian Development Bank (ADB), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Economic
Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and potentially the ASEAN Secretariat or ASEAN
member ministries and agencies.
8.
Indonesia: Next steps on the accession request. On 14 July 2023, Indonesia formally expressed
its interest in joining the Organisation and requested to start the accession process to the OECD. The
Indonesian government recognises that OECD accession would provide a catalyst for reform andcontinuity to achieve Indonesia’s national development goals, as well as enabling Indonesia to access thenumerous benefits of OECD membership. On 20 February 2024, OECD Council decided to open accession
discussions with Indonesia. Subsequently, the Accession Roadmap for Indonesia was adopted on 29 March2024.
9.
Thailand: Next steps on the accession request. On 13 February 2024, H.E. Srettha Thavisin, thePrime Minister of Thailand, sent a letter formally requesting to begin the accession process to the OECD.
The Thai government states that OECD membership would accelerate the process of regulatory alignment
with OECD standards, improve its policy competitiveness, and create a better business climate with faircompetition and transparency.
10.
Engagement with China. The OECD aims to strengthen its engagement with China on areas ofglobal concern such as climate and environment as well as international tax co-operation. The OECD will
also continue engaging with China in policy areas where China’s increased alignment with OECD
standards and best practices and potential adherence to OECD legal instruments can contribute to reducing
policy distortions and levelling the global playing field.
11.
Supporting OECD awareness raising in India. Following the successful G20 engagement,
continue to work with the Government of India on OECD strategic priorities including tax policy,
economic surveillance, clean energy and environment, corporate governance, responsible business conduct(RBC), competition, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI), education, investment and private sector
development, among others.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE OECD STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE INDO-PACIFIC
Unclassified4  C/MIN(2024)4/FINAL
12.
Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). There is a need to deepen engagement with additional key regionalorganisations and fora, such as the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and its member countries. At present theengagement is limited and there are many international and regional organisations involved with the PacificIslands. The OECD will stay focused on strengthening its engagement in the first instance in the areas oftax policy, the OECD’s Sustainable Ocean for All Initiative, Small Island Developing States Initiative, andearly discussions on private sector development and MSMEs.
13.
South Asia. Drawing on the lessons of the successful 10-year engagement through the SEARP,
there is scope to strengthen engagement with the South Asia region. This could also include countryspecific collaboration with Bangladesh and other partners in the region.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE OECD STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE INDO-PACIFIC
Unclassified