Local Government Development Foundation

History of the ESEA Network

December 1996	Dr. Gaudioso C. Sosmena, Jr. Founding Executive Director of the Local Government Development Foundation (LOGODEF) and Mr. Wolfgang Meyer of the Konrad Adenaeur Foundation (KAF) agreed to establish and promote a network of local governments in the Asia Pacific to draw out experiences and best practices in local governance considering the degree of diversified geo-socio-political outlook of the region.
June 23-27, 1997	LOGODEF and KAS in the Philippines sponsored an Asian expert group meeting in Manila to define the criteria for excellence in local government management which calls for a vision of modern management principles and provided the basis for the search of the best managed local authorities in countries situated in the East and Southeast Asia namely, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
November 1997	The participating countries through their Country Search Committees identified their respective �best managed� local government nominees. These local government nominees were to compete for the Konrad Adenauer Local Government Award and automatically comprised the core member cities of the East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments.
March 1998	Based on the profile of the six (6) participating cities, a high level international committee selected Kumi, City of South Korea as the recipient of the KALGA gold medal and awarded the silver medal to each of the other cities. The jury was composed of Dr. hc Josef Thesing, Member of the Executive Board and Director General of International Cooperation of the Konrad Adenauer in Bonn (Chairman of the Jury), Mayor Peter Woods (new South Wales, Australia), President of the International Union of Local Authorities-Asia Pacific Section (IULA-ASPAC) in Jakarta, Indonesia and Hans-Jurgen Stryk Executive Director for Austria, Germany, Turkey and the United Kingdom in the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
April 3, 1998	Then, Philippine Vice President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Dr. Joseph Thesing awarded the first KALGA in a stupendous ceremony held at the prestigious Manila Hotel.

Objectives of the Network

The primary objective of the Network is the promotion of innovations in local government management in the spirit of the New Public Management. Consequently, the Network also seeks to actively engage in the promotion of best practices through continued information exchange and replication mechanisms among network member countries.

Member Cities of the ESEA Network		Country Institutional Partners
Country / City	Distinctive Competencies	Partner Institution	Category
Cambodia City of Battambang	Transparency in the city bureaucracy and a model as a high performing city organization	Buddhism for Development bfdkhmer@camintel.com	NGO
Thailand City of Phitsanulok	Initiated reforms in the city bureaucracy and developed a city development strategy thus making the city competitive	Thailand Environmental Institute http://www.tei.or.th/	NGO
South Korea City of Gumi	Institutional cyber marketing in cooperation with the academe and the private sector in response to the challenges of globalization	Korea Local Authorities for International Relations (KLAFIR) http://www.klafir.or.kr/	NGO
Vietnam City of Ha Long	Promoted local tourism and actively engaged citizens in the preservation of a world cultural heritage	International Cooperation Department-State Council http://halong.net.vm/	Government
Philippines City of Olongapo	Introduced computerization in city administration and promoted international cooperation and understanding	League of Cities of the Phillipines (LCP) http://www.lcp.org.ph/	Local Government Association as per Section 499 of the local Government Code
Malaysia City of Kuantan	Introduced ISO 9000 in 1998 to improve city government administration which was used as a model in Malaysia	Ministry of Local Government and Housing http.//mcsi.mampn.gov.my/ English/fedgovt/housing.html	Government
Indonesia City of Semarang	Excellence in community development and initiated cooperation with local university in improving city governance	International Union of Local Authorities-Asia Pacific Section(IULA-ASPAC) http://www.iula-aspac.org/	International Local Government Association

ESEA Conferences (1997-2006)

	Theme	Conference Venue/ Dates Held	Remarks
Preliminary Conference	Organizing the East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments	Diamond Hotel, Manila Philippines June 23-25, 1997;and Punta Baluarte Calatagan, Batangas June 26-27	Criteria for KALGA Awardees established
First	Seminar on Comparative Local Governments and Conferment of the Konrad Adenaeur Local Government Award to six Cities in East and Southeast Asia	Manila Hotel Manila, Philippines April 1-3, 1998	First official gathering of network members along with KAS officials in Germany
Second	Political Dimension of Local Government Innovations	Ciputra Hotel Semarang, Indonesia April 12-16, 1999	Conducted by City of Semarang
Third	Public-Private Partnership	MS Garden Hotel Kuantan, Malaysia April 18-22, 1999	Co-hosted by City of Kuantan
Fourth	Reform of Administrative Structures and Procedures	Garden Beach Resort Pattaya, Thailand April 18-22, 1999	Co-hosted by city of Saenuk
Fifth	Political Dimension of Local Government Innovation	Heritage Hotel Halong, Vietnam August 5-7, 1999	Co-hosted by Halong
Sixth	Reform of Administrative Structures and Procedures	Holiday Inn Clarkfield, Philippines August 19-21, 1999	Hosted by KAS and LOGODEF
Seventh	Public-Private Partnership	Kumi Rio Hotel Kumi, South Korea September 13-15, 1999	Co-hosted by City of Gumi
Eighth	ESEA Planning Conference	Mandarin Oriental Hotel Makati, Philippines March 22-23, 2000	Hosted by KAS and LOGODEF
Ninth	E-Commerce and E-Governance	Bali Inter-Continental Resort Bali, Indonesia July 16-18, 2001	Co-hosted by Gianyar Regency
Tenth	Southeast Asia Conference on Decentralization	Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phon Penh, Cambodia May 6-7, 2002	Co-hosted by KAS and Ministry of Interior
Eleventh	Social Justice	Hyatt Regency Hotel, Manila, Philippines December 3-5, 2003	Hosted by KAS and LOGODEF
Twelfth	Security Management in ESEA Cities	Rendezvous, Hotel Singapore December 2-4, 2004	Hosted by KAS and LOGODEF
Thirteenth	Policies and Strategies on Eco-Urban Tourism	Sheraton Grande, Sukhumvit, Bangkok November 2-5, 2005	Hosted by KAS and LOGODEF
Fourteenth	Revisiting Decentralization in the ASIA Pacific	Raffles Le Royal Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia November 29-December 1, 2006	Hosted by KAS, Cambodia and LOGODEF
Fifteenth	The role of Local Governments in Promoting International Tourism and Foreign Investments	Gumi City, South Korea November 1-3, 2007	Co-sponsored by Gumi, KAS and LOGODEF
Sixteenth	Cities in Search of the Ideal Communities	Olongapo City Convention Center Olongapo City, Philippines November 19-21, 2008	Co-sponsored by Olongapo City, KAS and LOGODEF

Publications of the ESEA Network

	Title of Publication	Year Published	Focus of the Publication
1.	East and Southeast Asia Conference on Decentralization	2002	Highlights various implementation of decentralization that cut across the global region
2.	Information Technology for Local Governance	2001	Country papers featuring experiences on E-Governance of selected members of the ESEA Network
3.	Local, Political and Administrative Reforms	2000	Book series which features new public management theories and practices in selected ESEA Network members
4.	East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments: Planning Conference	2000	Publicized the program planning conference of the Network conducted at the Mandarin Hotel, Makati City, Philippines
5.	East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments: New Public Management � Public-Private Partnership	2000	Features various topics with particular emphasis on public-private partnership, a core value of new public management
6.	East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments: Current Studies	1999	Showcase current reforms and innovations in all member cities of the network
7.	Seminar on Comparative Local Governments in Southeast Asia and the Konrad Adenauer Local Government Award	1997	Country reports on various modes of local government administration in Southeast Asia and the KALGA program of activities
8.	The East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments: A Summary	1997	Summarizes the concept , objectives and activities of the ESEA Network after its establishment
9.	Implementing Guidelines of the East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments	1997	Serves a an information material on the KALGA; the objectives of the award, the selection criteria and the process of evaluation
10.	The First Interregional Conference of the East and Southeast Asia Network for Better Local Governments	1997	Explains the rationale of the ESEA Network including the criteria set forth in the regional award and its mechanics

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