ADB, SEAMEO Sign Cooperation Agreement on Education

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (25 June 2003) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to improve cooperation on education issues for the benefit of common member countries.

Signing the cooperation agreement this morning are ADB President Tadao Chino (left) and SEAMEO Council President Edilberto de Jesus.

Signing the agreement at ADB headquarters in Manila were ADB President Tadao Chino and Edilberto de Jesus, President of the SEAMEO Council and Education Secretary of the Philippines. The ceremony was attended by senior officials of ADB and SEAMEO.

"The partnership will complement each institution's knowledge base, build on each other's experience, expand the network of institutions active in education development in these countries, and maximize the use of scarce resources while maintaining each one's comparative advantage," says Paul Chang, an ADB Principal Education Specialist.

The cooperation agreement is non-exclusive and flexible to take account of the different operating conditions and needs of member countries. ADB and SEAMEO seek to establish an operational framework and practical modalities, which will focus on education development issues.

These will include:

• Sharing knowledge, studies, research and best practices; reciprocal attendance at meetings;
• Assessing needs of individual countries for technical support to formulate or update education sector development plans, programs and strategies, as well as regional and subregional human resource development;
• Identifying, designing and implementing technical cooperation projects for the long-term improvement of education, science and culture. Emphasis will be given to the Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals and to support national poverty reduction agendas;
• Collaborating on the implementation of regional and subregional programs, including joint sponsorship of forums and workshops, common research, studies and project missions;
• Cooperating in other areas, including information and communications technology (ICT), gender and development issues, preventive education as applied to public health, management information systems, governance, private sector development, ethnic minority groups and indigenous peoples.

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