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The Indo-Pacific Development Centre

The Indo-Pacific Development Centre (IPDC) is a policy research centre at the Lowy Institute dedicated to generating fresh policy insights and ideas on the most pressing economic development issues in the Indo-Pacific region. The IPDC focuses on key challenges facing emerging and developing economies in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South Asia as well as the role of more advanced Indo-Pacific economies such as Australia, the United States, Japan, China, and others in helping shape the future economic development of the region.

The work of the IPDC is organised around six key themes:

  • Post-Covid recovery, growth and development
  • Climate finance and decarbonising development
  • Technology and the digital economy
  • Globalisation and regional integration
  • The future of international development finance
  • Geoeconomics and the intersection of development and security

As part of its development finance pillar, the IPDC houses the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map, a digital interactive that tracks all official development finance flows to the Pacific region.

The IPDC has been established with the support of multi-year funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Featured projects

Southeast Asia Aid Map
Southeast Asia Aid Map
New interactive tracking more than 100,000 development projects, the most comprehensive assessment of development flows in Southeast Asia ever undertaken.
Pacific Aid Map 2022
Pacific Aid Map 2022
Updated research shows the unprecedented disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Pacific Islands region caused upheaval in how international donors provide aid.
Experts
Latest publications
News and media
Lowy Institute Lead Economist; Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Deputy Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Assistant, Pacific Aid Map
Research Associate, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Pacific Aid Map
Research Associate, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Associate, Southeast Asia Aid Map
Research Associate, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
China’s Pacific aid is rebounding and recalibrated
China’s Pacific aid is rebounding and recalibrated
After a pandemic-induced lull in spending and new project commitments, China’s Pacific aid engagement has rebounded. With increased spending and a surge in new infrastructure…
Pacific education: Backsliding outcomes and a financing freefall
Pacific education: Backsliding outcomes and a financing freefall
Education outcomes in the Pacific are faltering. Across much of the region, participation in formal education is declining, along with graduation rates and academic performance…
Pacific Aid Map 2024 - Key Findings Report
Reports
Pacific Aid Map 2024 - Key Findings Report
The annual Pacific Aid Map — launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018 — is a comprehensive database tracking official development finance (ODF) flows in the Pacific Islands region…
Pacific Aid Map 2024
Interactives
Pacific Aid Map 2024
A comprehensive database tracking official development finance (ODF) flows in the Pacific Islands region, the seventh edition of the Pacific Aid Map encompasses the period from…
Indonesia takes a bite out of Apple, and sets itself a test for future investment
Indonesia takes a bite out of Apple, and sets itself a test for future investment
The iPhone 16 has been banned from sale in Indonesia. For a rapidly growing, tech-savvy nation, this is a setback for Apple. But the Indonesian government seems determined to send…
It’s the politics, stupid: Three key reasons for slow progress on the new UN climate finance goal
It’s the politics, stupid: Three key reasons for slow progress on the new UN climate finance goal
Nations come together in Azerbaijan next week for annual talks about how to address and reduce the ever-increasing effects from the burning of fossil fuels.This year’s…
What to watch for at COP29: Expectations and challenges
What to watch for at COP29: Expectations and challenges
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich autocracy in Central Asia, has landed the task of hosting this year’s UN climate talks, known formally as the Conference of the Parties to the United…
Pooled funds give Australia’s new humanitarian strategy a boost
Pooled funds give Australia’s new humanitarian strategy a boost
Australia has a new humanitarian strategy. And while there’s not a lot to represent a serious policy shift from the previous version released in 2016, it does have a few important…
Pacific Islands News Association
17 April 2024
Khmer Times
24 November 2023
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier
15 November 2023
The Fiji Times
1 November 2023