Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG)

Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) was launched during the September 2003 at the annual conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) in Miami. The leader behind the great Asia Pacific network was Dr. Jak Jabes, Director of the Governance and Capacity Development Division of the Asian Development Bank. The next year NAPSIPAG found a physical location at INTAN-Kuala Lumpur under the leadership of Dr. Mohd. Gazali Abas, the Director of INTAN. The Network held its first annual conference in December 2004 at the INTAN headquarters in Kuala Lumpur with more than 150 delegates representing institutes of public administration spread around the region of Asia Pacific. Ever since NAPSIPAG has been holding its annual conference every year in December. Since then it has met in CNSA-Beijing, UNSW-Sydney, NCPAG-Manila, JNU-New Delhi, IMG-Trivendrum, DPA Tribhuvan University-Kathmandu, SLIDA-Colombo. So far NAPSIPAG has held nine successful conferences.

Some workshops organised by NAPSIPAG were BAPTC-Dhaka University, Bangladesh(2010), JNU-ICSSR-MC Mehta Foundation, Medawala-Dehradun, (2013).

The mandate of ADB support to NAPSIPAG was for three years. It was extended to the fourth year under the leadership of Mr. Raza Ahmad who took over from Dr. Jak Jabes at ADB in 2005. Life within NAPSIPAG started changing as the number of administrators who were mostly supported by ADB started reducing. In 2008 ADB was shifted to the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance. The purpose was to generate a stronger research ability of the network so that it is visible and more impactful in the region.

In consideration of the changing scenario in the post-ADB phase, NAPSIPAG’s Constitution was amended in the Kathmandu General Body Meeting in 2011.The new  focus was upon the Secretariat’s stability of tenure and a stronger focus on public administration research involving multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural methodologies.

Previous NAPSIPAG Conferences

  • INTAN-Kuala Lumpur, Mal. (2004)
  • CNSA-Beijing (2005)
  • University of Sydney-Aus.(2006)
  • NCPAG-Manila, Phil.(2007)
  • JNU-Delhi,India(2008)
  • University of Uttara-Mal.(2009)
  • IMG-Trivandrum,Kerala India(2010)
  • Tribhuvan Univ.-Kathmandu,Nepal (2011)
  • SLIDA-Colombo , Sri Lanka ( 2012)

The NAPSIPAG Secretariat has been shifted to Berhampur University in the year 2024. The NAPSIPAG at Berhampur University will organize the next conference in January 2025.  The International Conference on “Revisiting Public Policy & Governance in Times of Climate Change” is scheduled to be Organized by NAPSIPAG at Berhampur University, Odisha, India from 23rd to 25th January 2025.

Presently, Prof. Geetanjali Dash, Hon. Vice Chancellor of Berhampur University has taken over as the Secretary General of NAPSIPAG.