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ASEAN assesses progress of socio-cultural community

The 11 th meeting of ASEAN senior officials in charge of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) wrapped up in Phnom Penh , Cambodia on April 1.
The 11 th meeting of ASEAN senior officials in charge of ASEANSocio-Cultural Community (ASCC) wrapped up in Phnom Penh , Cambodia onApril 1.

According to Xinhua, the meetingreviewed the progress of implementation of the ASCC Blueprint as wellas discussed preparations for the 7th ASCC Council Meeting to be heldon April 2 and the 20th ASEAN Summit on April 3-4.

TheASCC Blueprint was adopted by the ASEAN leaders at the 14th ASEANSummit in March 2009 in Thailand . The primary goal of the ASCC is tocontribute to realising an ASEAN Community that is people-centred andsocially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity andunity among the ASEAN nations and peoples by forging a common identityand building a caring and sharing society.

Theofficials also deliberated on measures to implement commitments as wellas called for more concrete actions promote the establishment of anASCC, which, along with the ASEAN Political and Security Community(APSC) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), constitute three pillarsof an ASEAN Community envisioned by 2015.

Other topicsdiscussed at the meeting included cultural harmonisation, climatechange, educational cooperation, women and children.-VNA
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