A Pulse Check is a survey that delivers data designed to inform key policy and reform processes. It collects this data by placing top local nongovernment experts in the shoes of policymakers and challenging them to grapple with the choices and trade-offs that the Australian development program faces.
The Pulse Check x Southeast Asia gathers local expert insights into how Australian decision-makers should approach development cooperation in their countries. Over one year, the Lab spoke to 360+ experts from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Using a unique point allocation methodology, the Lab invited these experts to step into the shoes of Australian policymakers, setting out the choices they would make for development cooperation in their countries.
These experts answered five questions about the most critical trends and development priorities facing their country on which Australia should focus its resources and how it should engage as a development partner. They were asked to allocate 100 points across the categories provided for each question, prioritising the categories according to what they considered most and least important. In addition, we asked why they allocated their points in the way that they did. Participants who consented to be named are listed, although their specific answers remain anonymised. Quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.
The Lab spoke with each country’s cohort individually and asked them to reflect on their own country’s bilateral cooperation with Australia. However, in this brief, we put data and insights from the region together, to look at the strategic priorities and collective aspirations of leaders from Southeast Asia as a whole.
While this project was developed alongside the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Office of Southeast Asia to ensure its relevance to policymakers, this is an independent process, and all research and analysis reflect participant views and Lab analysis.
