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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
Understanding “loss and damage” from climate change across the Indo-Pacific
Understanding “loss and damage” from climate change across the Indo-Pacific
Floods in Southeast Asia, severe tropical cyclones in the Pacific, islands and coastal settlements threatened by sea level rise and millions of displaced people as a result. ­The…
Setting the standard: An important step on the path to net zero emissions
Setting the standard: An important step on the path to net zero emissions
The release of international standards rarely makes global headlines, but they are an essential backdrop to our everyday lives. Without international standards on postage,…
Scrapping IMF surcharges is key to cutting debt burden on distressed nations
Scrapping IMF surcharges is key to cutting debt burden on distressed nations
More than 50 countries, composing half of the world’s poorest people, are facing severe debt distress. “Crisis” might be an overused term in global politics, but surely this…
Paris climate summit: A new global financing pact takes shape
Paris climate summit: A new global financing pact takes shape
France held the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact last month, and, as with many climate summits, one can be forgiven for being disappointed with the outcome. Despite…
Reforming Australia’s trading system – a long hard slog but worth the effort
Reforming Australia’s trading system – a long hard slog but worth the effort
As Australia seeks to diversify its economy, build more resilience into supply chains, and improve productivity, reducing the transaction costs of both exporting and importing has…
Jokowi’s visit to Australia is about much more than electric vehicles
Jokowi’s visit to Australia is about much more than electric vehicles
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo carries a personal ambition in his visit to Australia this week, to secure Australia’s support for Indonesia’s nascent electric vehicle ambitions…
Replenishing the Green Climate Fund
Replenishing the Green Climate Fund
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established in 2010 as a linchpin for global solidarity between rich and poor countries. Operating under the United Nations Framework Convention…
The end of the neo-liberal order?
The end of the neo-liberal order?
Did US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s “New Washington Consensus” speech on 27 April signal the end of the neo-liberal order, when free markets had a paramount role in…
Southeast Asia Aid Map - Key Findings Report
Analyses
Southeast Asia Aid Map - Key Findings Report
The Lowy Institute Southeast Asia Aid Map is an analytical tool designed to improve aid and development effectiveness in Southeast Asia. This report profiles the 11…
Filling the gaps: The Southeast Asia Aid Map
Filling the gaps: The Southeast Asia Aid Map
Southeast Asia is home to some of the most dynamic and fast‑growing economies in the world. Yet the region continues to face significant development challenges, including poverty,…