Singapore, January 17, 2024 – ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF), ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Member states along with GGGI and the consortium partners NIGT, KECO and NTU launched the ASEAN Korea cooperation project on integrated municipal solid waste management. The project was launched under the chairmanship of ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC).
The project aims at building a pipeline of 21 green catalytic investment projects in MSW sector in the ASEAN Member States, mobilizing over 100 M USD in investments in projects benefiting over 4 million people in 10 ASEAN countries, creating 1,300 green jobs and avoiding 6 mtco2eq of greenhouse gas emissions. Funded by AKCF, the USD7.3 million project will be implemented over the next three years in all ASEAN Member States.
“Through this project, participating ASEAN Member States will develop a Regional Strategy for Municipal Waste and convene a regional platform to expand industry collaborations and knowledge exchange on the subject between ASEAN and Korea, AKPMT looks forward to an expanded collaboration between ASEAN and Korea in the MSW sector” Ms. Taehyun Kim, Program Manager, ASEAN-Korea Cooperation fund said. “This is a significant step in bringing together investors, corporations, start-ups, innovators to a common collaborative space,” Ms. Taehyun Kim, added.
“We are very pleased to lead the consortium to accelerate investment in the waste sector” Dr. Achala Abeysinghe, Regional Director, Asia, GGGI said. “The project helps ASEAN Member states in advancing their efforts in better management of municipal waste streams including plastics, organic and wastes of other types. The project also offers a unique platform for the member states to advance their project investments through building technology collaborations and capacity building,” Dr. Abeysinghe explained.
The project also held the first steering committee meeting back-to-back with the launch event where the workplan and strategic focus areas were discussed. These included development of regional IMSWM strategy and guidelines, investment pipeline, training and exchange program and development of a regional platform for IMSWM. GGGI and the consortium members will now begin implementation of this project in close collaboration with the ASEAN member states and industry partners.
“The project provides great platform to member states for building collaborations between environment and industry, accelerating investments and arrive at consensus on regional issues surrounding waste. We thank ROK for the support and extend our support to GGGI and consortium partners in implementing this important agenda” said Dr. Minh Cuong Nguyen, Deputy Director, Ministry of Environment, Government of Vietnam and Chair of ASEAN Working group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC).
To find out more: communicaitons@gggi.org
About ASEAN-Korean Cooperation Fund: The AKCF was launched in 1990 to further strengthen the ASEAN-ROK relations. AKCF has supported more than 400 projects agreed by both parties, including technology transfer, economic development, human resource development, and people-to-people exchanges. The ASEAN-ROK Programme management team (AKPMT) was established in 2016 to manage activities under the AKCF.
About ASEAN-Secretariate: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN. The ASEAN Secretariat’s mission is to initiate, facilitate and coordinate ASEAN stakeholder collaboration in realizing the purposes and principles of ASEAN as reflected in the ASEAN Charter.
About GGGI: The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization founded in 2012 at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. GGGI has 48 member countries and 209 ongoing projects. In 2022, GGGI enabled USD 1.4 Billion in investments mobilized, 58 green policies adoptions and 105 advisory outputs. Circular Economy and Waste is one of the key programmatic solutions within GGGI. Supporting member states in transitioning to a more circular and sustainable waste management practice forms one the key targets for GGGIs. GGGI is currently providing assistance to member states in project origination, facilitating green investments, project development, implementing circular policies and improving city waste management operations.