USTDA Regional Brief - South and Southeast Asia

USTDA advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, reverse trade missions and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance supports sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries and creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

The following is an illustrative list of recent projects that USTDA has supported in South and Southeast Asia:

Regional

Agro/Food Processing Best Practices and Technologies Reverse Trade Mission – USTDA is sponsoring a visit to the United States to introduce Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan public and private sector delegates to U.S. technology, equipment, services and best practices in the agro/food processing sector. The visit targets the growing role for agriculture in U.S. foreign assistance policy, and follows partly from USTDA prior engagement in this sector through the U.S.-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative.

E-Manifest APEC Pilot Project – USTDA provided $601,893 for an APEC regional demonstration project, based at Vietnam Customs. Together with the National Center for APEC, with cost sharing from Unisys and FedEx in a public-private partnership, the project was designed to further implementation of the World Customs Organization Framework to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade in the APEC region. The eManifest project demonstrated advanced customs clearance transactions for airfreight carriers designed to improve security risk management, timeliness, completeness and accuracy.

GNSS Testbed Demonstration Project – USTDA provided $675,000 to support the development of a global positioning system (GPS) demonstration testbed project in Southeast Asia. The project is facilitating the research, development, acquisition, and implementation efforts of an air navigation system based on GPS and Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) technologies, and supports a uniform implementation of GPS throughout the APEC region.

Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System – Working with the respective national emergency management authorities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, USTDA sponsored technology modernization and integration studies on the detection, warning processing and notification systems related to seismic, tsunami and weather events.

India

Integrated Water Resources Management Plan for Total Water Management – A $435,236 USTDA grant is partially funding a feasibility study to help the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to develop an Integrated Water Resources Management master plan for its service area. The study will also provide BWSSB with a customized water resources management planning tool (VOYAGE) to make optimal decisions on long-term water resource investments.

U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP) – USTDA launched the ACP in 2007, together with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. aviation companies, to work directly with the Indian civil aviation sector on its modernization and safety priorities as it undergoes rapid growth. Under this public-private partnership, USTDA has sponsored an Aviation Summit conference in New Delhi, a multi-phase Air Traffic Management Training Program, and technical workshops on certification of India’s satellite navigation system, GAGAN, and Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) practices. New projects with substantial industry cost-sharing include a Helicopter Aviation Safety and Aviation Standards and Processes technical assistance program for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

HPCL Asset Integrity – USTDA provided a $628,926 grant to the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to fund technical assistance on an asset integrity management project for its petroleum refineries and associated pipelines. The technical assistance is introducing HPCL to a wide range of advanced safety technologies and methodologies to minimize the risks and vulnerabilities of HPCL’s petroleum operations and protect the safety of the workforce and neighboring population.

Indonesia

Jakarta-Bandung Wireless Broadband Network Deployment – USTDA provided $388,000 to PT Semesta Citra Media, a private Indonesian telecommunications firm, to share the cost of a feasibility study on the deployment of a wireless broadband network in the cities of Jakarta and Bandung and the transportation corridor connecting these cities. Use of this technology is expected to increase economic activity in the Jakarta-Bandung corridor, considered to be the most important business district in the country.

Weh Island Transshipment Port – USTDA provided $512,950 to partially fund a feasibility study on a new transshipment facility on the outskirts of the Strait of Malacca in northern Sumatra’s Aceh Province. The proposed facility would provide shippers with a strategic location to transfer cargo to smaller, regional vessels serving local markets throughout South and Southeast Asia. This study is assisting the Sabang Free Trade Zone and Free Port Authority (BPKS) in its efforts to develop such a terminal.

Pakistan

Bagasse-Based Cogeneration Development Reverse Trade Mission – USTDA is sponsoring an reverse trade mission to the United States to introduce Pakistani public and private sector delegates to U.S. energy conservation and low-cost options for increasing power generation capacities through biomass cogeneration. The itinerary will include meetings with U.S. private and public sector entities active in this arena and industry events and workshops geared towards the renewable energies sector.

Undersea Fiber Optic Cable – USTDA awarded a $145,000 grant to determine the viability of a private Undersea Fiber Optic Cable System to connect Pakistan with international networks. Its implementation represents the first major private sector venture in basic telecom infrastructure in Pakistan and is providing a critical second high-speed link in case of interruptions to the existing SMW-3 link. T. Soja and Associates carried out the study for Transworld Associates (Pvt.) Ltd.

Philippines

Unified Multipurpose ID System – USTDA is providing a $502,534 grant to the National Statistics Office to partially fund a study on a national identification registry. The study is providing system recommendations to improve both the efficiency and safety of transactions involving citizens and the government, as well as improve transparency in government operations.

Bay City Desalination Plant – USTDA is providing $416,567 to fund a feasibility study for the Association of Manila Bay on the legal, technical and financial merits of a proposed desalination plant for the Bay City development area in greater Manila.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Oil and Gas Regulatory – USTDA awarded a $474,000 grant to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, which is assisting the Ministry of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development in developing oil and gas regulations for Sri Lanka’s nascent oil and gas industry. The grant will promote a transition from a consumer-driven to a production-oriented oil and gas regulatory structure, based on the Sri Lankan government’s plans to open up promising offshore oil and gas blocks for exploration and development. The USTDA-funded assistance will also help to establish the organizational structure of the regulatory authority.

Thailand

Disaster Warning Systems Integration and Capacity Development – USTDA provided a $597,000 grant to Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) for a Disaster Warning Systems Integration and Capacity Building project. The assistance provided the NDWC with technical solutions, systems integration, and human resources training and led to the procurement of approximately $10 million from U.S. suppliers of typhoon sirens and towers. An additional $10-11 million in U.S. goods and service are expected from the project.

LNG Receiving Terminal – USTDA provided a $667,000 grant to PTT Public Company Limited to fund a study on a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal. The study is intended to help determine the most appropriate location and technology for the terminal, and the required level of investment for the project. PACE Global Energy Services, LLC (Fairfax, VA) completed this project.

Vietnam

Blocks B and 52 Gas Pipeline Project – USTDA signed a $591,000 agreement with PetroVietnam, the state-owned oil company, to provide expert assistance on the financial feasibility and investment project structuring for the strategic Blocks B and 52 Gas Pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand. Unocal Corporation is also supporting the assessment of the proposed gas pipeline, which is expected to conclude in the formation of a joint venture arrangement among Unocal, PVN, and other private sector partners.

Hanoi Securities Trading Center – USTDA awarded $478,500 to the State Securities Commission to develop an IT expansion roadmap and prepare bidding documents for system procurement for the Hanoi Securities Trading Center (HSTC). The grant also funded a visit by senior members of the HSTC and the Securities Commission to the National Association of Securities Dealers, NASDAQ, NYSE, and related private and public sector organizations.

Vietnam Airlines Core System Upgrade – USTDA approved $523,000 to assist Vietnam Airlines in upgrading its core systems and meeting the requirements of the International Air Traffic Association e-program Simplifying-the-Business. Sabre Holdings of Southlake, Texas provided the required services and technologies.