JOINT MEDIA RELEASE 17 MARCH 2005
AUSTRALIA INDONESIA PARTNERSHIP FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
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INAUGURAL JOINT COMMISSION MEETING Indonesian and Australian Ministers are pleased to announce a successful outcome to the inaugural meeting of the Joint Commission for the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) held in Canberra today.This first Joint Commission meeting represents a milestone in Australia-Indonesia relations. The agreements reached at this meeting confirm the commitment of both Governments to implementing the Partnership and ensuring that the benefits of Australia's new $1 billion aid package flow quickly to Indonesia's citizens.
The meeting was opened by the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard MP, who emphasised the desire within the Australian Government and community to forge even closer links with Indonesia in the of the 26 December tsunami disaster. Noting the urgent need to restore services in Aceh, Ministers agreed work would begin immediately on a $50 million 'Aceh Rehabilitation Program'. The program will include assistance to renovate the Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh and rebuild the health workforce; provide essential education equipment and teacher training; and help restore essential government services to the devastated province. Ministers also agreed a $10 million program to strengthen Indonesia's disaster management and response systems and build a closer partnership between Indonesia's disaster coordination authority, BAKORNAS, and Emergency Management Australia (EMA). A $5 million package of assistance measures will also be developed to address needs arising from the recent earthquakes in Alor and
Recognising the wide ranging reform agenda of the new administration of President Yudhoyono, a major $50 million, five year program will assist Indonesia in economic, financial and public sector management, through the exchange of skills and expertise between Australian and Indonesian Government agencies.
Ministers agreed arrangements under the Partnership to guide priority setting and decision-making; to ensure joint management; and to govern tendering and contracting. Terms and conditions for the $500 million loan program were agreed, with detailed arrangements to be finalised in a formal loan agreement to be signed as soon as possible.
recognise the Government of Indonesia's responsibility for setting the priorities for national social and economic development and reform;
take account of the special characteristics and needs of tsunami-affected areas and those of other areas of Indonesia;
support Indonesia's development efforts;
focus on areas where Australia has a comparative advantage in expertise and the delivery of reconstruction and development assistance; with special emphasis on the development of linkages between Australian Government agencies and institutions and their Indonesian counterparts as well as the strengthening of people-to-people links;
identify activities for funding based on merit according to their relative contribution to recovery and reconstruction as well as longer-term economic and social development, with a special emphasis on human resource development and good governance, both in tsunami-affected and other areas of Indonesia;
implement a partnership approach in the joint identification of funding priorities, the joint identification of activities for implementation, and the joint selection of implementing bodies with decision-making based on principles of transparency and accountability, open and competitive tendering and robust performance monitoring and evaluation systems; and
coordinate with the activities and planning of other international development partners and, where effective and consistent with the objective of the partnership, utilise a range of international and domestic aid delivery mechanisms, including multilateral agencies and non-governmental organisations.
Ministers agreed that before the next Joint Commission meeting Australian and Indonesian officials will develop a partnership framework to guide the process of joint identification of priority activities for funding under the AIPRD.
Governance of the Joint Commission
Ministers confirmed that the Joint Commission will be the peak decision-making body of the Partnership and that the Commission's work will be jointly overseen by the Heads of Government of Australia and Indonesia.
Membership of the Commission will comprise the Foreign Ministers of both Australia and Indonesia, as well as economic ministers from each country.
The principal mandate of the Joint Commission will be to set broad strategic directions for the Partnership. It will also establish key priorities for funding, determine and review an annual work programme and agree major activities.
