Prior to its planned economic integration in 2015, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was in need of a strong vision with implementable work plan for its science and technology program. The APEC Center for Technology Foresight helped organizing and facilitating the ASEAN’s Committee on Science and Technology (COST) Retreat on the “Future of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI): 2015 and Beyond”. The retreat was held in December 2010 in Krabi, Thailand, attended by economic policy experts and industry representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat were also in attendance.

In Krabi, ASEAN members identified major STI issues and develop strategies that would complement and enhance the established vision of ASEAN for the 21^st century. They then integrated STI into ASEAN economic, social, security, and environmental framework, and developed a set of recommendations, for consideration of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology, on the strategic direction on STI for 2015 & beyond that can be further reported to the ASEAN leaders.

The recommendations later became known collectively as the Krabi Initiative, where members agreed to pursue the theme of “Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for a Competitive, Sustainable and Inclusive ASEAN”. The basis for the said theme includes the roles of STI in balancing between competitiveness and human development (People-oriented STI). Eight thematic tracks have been identified as keys areas to be pursued.

The Krabi Initiative

It was also recommended that the Committee itself undertake organisational restructuring for a meaningful delivery of STI agenda in ASEAN. The Krabi initiative was to ASEAN Science Ministers Meeting and was adopted in December 2010. It essentially became the basis of ASEAN’s work plan on science and technology from 2015.