The Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), launched at the Fourth ASEAN Informal Summit in Singapore in 2000, aims to narrow the divide within ASEAN and enhance ASEAN’s competitiveness as a region. The IAI helps ASEAN’s newer Member States implement ASEAN commitments and agreements. Under the 2001 Ha Noi Declaration on Narrowing the Development Gap for Closer ASEAN Integration, the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN declared to narrow the development gap within ASEAN and between ASEAN and the rest of the world for the sake of dynamic and sustained growth of the region and prosperity of ASEAN. The Ha Noi Declaration called for special assistance to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) countries, to further regional integration in order to narrow the development gap within ASEAN. IAI has so far seen the adoption of three Work Plans. Work Plan I, from 2002 to 2008, comprised 232 projects in four areas. Work Plan II, from 2009 to 2015, included 182 actions aligned with the three ASEAN Community Blueprints 2015. Work Plan III contained 26 actions across five strategic areas. The Implementation Review of Work Plan III showed that CLMV countries have improved in absolute terms across 60 percent of outcome metrics, but the overall development gap to other ASEAN Member States (AMS) remains significant. Another key finding was the low level of project development by CLMV countries linked to capacity constraints. Therefore, Work Plan IV will provide additional support to CLMV countries to develop project proposals. IAI Work Plan IV has been developed in close collaboration with CLMV countries, other AMS and stakeholders, and is aligned with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the various sectoral Work Plans. Furthermore, IAI Work Plan IV has given significant consideration to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to persist and impact CLMV countries in the coming years. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency for countries to deepen the capacity and resiliency of their public health systems. Similarly, increased digital adoption in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and schools could accelerate business recovery, and ensure that students continue to receive an education when traditional delivery channels are compromised. Work Plan IV must also be flexible to accommodate new developments and other emerging trends in the next five years.