Programs & Projects

The Indo-Pacific Development Centre logo

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, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Assistant, Southeast Asia Aid Map
Research Associate, Pacific Aid Map
Research Associate, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Replenishing the Asian Development Bank in the Pacific
Replenishing the Asian Development Bank in the Pacific
In early May, donor governments are expected to unveil new funding commitments for the grant-financing window of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – the Asian Development Fund…
Digitizing G2P Payments: Lessons from Indonesia
Commentary
Digitizing G2P Payments: Lessons from Indonesia
Originally published on CGAP 
A multilateral bank for the Indo-Pacific?
A multilateral bank for the Indo-Pacific?
Governments around the world are facing complex intersecting challenges: how to achieve supply chain diversification and resilience while simultaneously pursuing more ambitious…
Australia hopes to co-host COP31 but do we have what it takes?
Commentary
Australia hopes to co-host COP31 but do we have what it takes?
  Originally published in The Canberra Times, 1 March 2024.  
Gender equality financing: Spotlight on Southeast Asia
Gender equality financing: Spotlight on Southeast Asia
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, as the adage goes. And in terms of measuring gender equality and women’s empowerment, considerable barriers exist. While significant…
A new global climate finance goal must balance need with political reality
A new global climate finance goal must balance need with political reality
Setting a new goal for the provision of climate finance to developing countries is poised to be the central topic for global climate negotiations across this year. Striking a…
Go big or go home: Australia should invest at scale in Southeast Asia’s energy transition
Go big or go home: Australia should invest at scale in Southeast Asia’s energy transition
Australia is looking to lift its engagement with Southeast Asia. Australia’s Special Envoy to ASEAN, Nicholas Moore, last year set out a new economic strategy to deliver on that…
Khmer Times
24 November 2023
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier
15 November 2023
The Fiji Times
1 November 2023