The Local Public Sector Alliance’s Asia Working Group convened on May 27, 2025, for its second knowledge-sharing session of the year. LPSA Co-Chair Peter Yates, Australia Representative at The Asia Foundation, opened the discussion by reflecting on the significant transformations shaping local governance across the region. Since the group’s last meeting in January, actors in the development sector, including INGOs, donors, and implementing organizations, have faced a humbling period marked by shifting ODA flows, funding uncertainty, and changing global trade dynamics. Yates acknowledged the distinct challenges faced by those working directly in communities and governments across Asia, underlining the urgency and relevance of localized solutions. Against this backdrop, the meeting brought together regional experts to share insights on “What’s Next for Local Governance in Asia? Adaptive and Localized Solutions Amidst Global Aid Retrenchment” and explore strategies for strengthening the local public sector in the face of global uncertainty.
Providing a regional perspective, Phillip Gonzalez, Senior Director of Programs, Asia & the Pacific, Forum of Federations, presented an overview of recent and upcoming local elections. Gonzalez highlighted the critical intersection of national politics and local government fortunes, noting how national-subnational relations are often politicized. He analyzed situations in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Fiji. In the Philippines, midterm elections gauge prospects for the 2028 presidential race, with implications for the Local Governance Code. In Sri Lanka, recent local elections saw a historic win for the National People’s Power (NPP), controlling 266 local bodies, signaling support for their governance reform mandate, though debates on turnout continue. Gonzalez noted positive signs in PNG’s election conduct despite logistical challenges. He highlighted upcoming local elections in Fiji, the first since 2005, marking a potential return to elected councils. Gonzalez concluded that local elections remain key entry points to understanding governance performance and political dynamics across Asia and the Pacific.
Kulshoom Ali, a Legal and Governance Professional from the Maldives, presented key shifts in Maldives’ decentralization journey, highlighting three milestone years: the 2010 Decentralization Act, the 2019 8th Amendment, and the 2024 Urban Development legislation. The 2010 Act established elected councils at island, atoll, and city levels, replacing appointed officials. Between 2010 and 2019, implementation saw reversals and shifts depending on central government priorities. The 2019 Amendment was pivotal, it guaranteed councils 5% of state revenue, enabled land use planning, mandated 33% gender quotas, and transferred smaller public investment projects (PSIPs) to councils, expanding local fiscal autonomy. However, councils faced challenges like limited capacity. In contrast, the 2024 legislation centralized urban planning under a national authority, raising questions about the future role of councils.
To explore “what next” amid global aid retrenchment, she shared voices from local councillors: rediscovering community spirit, tapping corporate partnerships, adopting sustainable local practices, and amplifying women’s leadership. Her concluding reflection emphasized a mindset shift from foreign aid to local agency and reframing decentralization reforms as win-win, politically negotiated solutions that deepen multilevel governance and private-sector engagement.
Bringing over two decades of experience, Dr. Gopa Kumar Thampi, former Senior Advisor at The Asia Foundation, offered grounded reflections on evolving approaches to local governance in the region. Drawing on Sri Lanka as a case, he underscored the importance of building “economic resilience” and adopting “fit-for-future” models of local governance. He observed that government strategies had often prioritized urban growth centers, municipal and urban councils, while overlooking rural institutions such as the Pradeshiya Sabhas. To counter this, they developed a database of all 341 local authorities, analyzing revenue capacity, budget use, and institutional readiness. This shifted attention from the “known suspects” and revealed “latent potential” in rural and secondary cities, prompting donors to cast the net wider.
A key innovation was the revival of the Local Loans and Development Fund (LLDF), a 107-year-old colonial-era institution designed to finance local governments but long marginalized. It was repositioned as a powerful pathway for domestic resource mobilization, with new loan products for green and digital projects. He also discussed the Strategic Impact Fund piloted in post-war regions, which tested co-financing models. While international partners contributed “software” expertise, local governments provided “hardware,” often doubling the initial investment. These experiments helped inform performance-based grant systems now being rolled out.
He emphasized the political nature of reform, the value of consultation, and the technology of participation. Rather than building infrastructure, the focus was on relational capacities. He warned against relying solely on institutional champions and advocated for strengthening institutional memory within the often-overlooked but stable middle tier.
In conclusion, he stressed the need for experimentation, adaptive accompaniment, and regional collaboration, noting that while projects may end, relationships and soft skills are the enduring assets for the future of local governance.
Following the presentations, an interactive Q&A segment allowed participants to engage with speakers, share experiences and challenges related to local governance and the changing aid landscape. Peter Yates concluded the meeting and announced the next knowledge sharing meeting of the Expert Working Group on Asia for September 2, 2025.
A video of the meeting is available on YouTube. The links below provide access to the video segments of the different agenda items.
| Agenda Item | Contributor |
| Welcome and Opening Remarks | Peter Yates LPSA Co-Chair Australia Representative & Regional Director, Governance, The Asia Foundation |
| Regional Perspectives – Asia Pacific | Phillip Gonzalez Senior Director of Programs, Asia & the Pacific, Forum of Federations |
| Practitioner Insights – Maldives | Kulshoom Ali Legal and Governance Professional |
| Practitioner Insights – Sri Lanka | Gopa Kumar Thampi Governance Expert & Former Senior Advisor, The Asia Foundation |
| Interactive Q&A and Audience Reflections | Peter Yates Moderator |
| Closing Remarks & AOB | Peter Yates |
The next LPSA Knowledge sharing event organized by Asia Expert Working Group is scheduled to take place on 2nd September, 2025 (3:30 PM Delhi, 5:00 PM BKK, 6:00 PM Manila).
Registration for this meeting is required. Register Here!
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