ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community holds 16th Coordinating Conference

Jakarta, (VNA) -  Brunei’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat, hosted the 16th Coordinating Conference on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOC-COM) on March 15, aiming to enhance synergy on the cross-sectoral and cross-pillar work of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).

The event was co-chaired by Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASCC Kung Phoak and Hajah Nor Ashikin Binti Haji Johari, the Chair of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASCC (SOCA).

Over 100 officials from SOCA, representatives of sectoral bodies from all three pillars of ASEAN, Committee of Permanent Representatives, as well as ASEAN regional entities participated in the meeting.

The conference, themed “Towards Post-COVID Recovery and Resilience in ASEAN,” highlighted the implementation progress of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), which serves as ASEAN consolidated exit strategy from the COVID-19 crisis.

In promoting synergy within ASCC to support the implementation of ACRF, ASCC sectoral bodies, through a thematic discussion, presented their priority initiatives in line with the recovery framework that requires cross-sectoral cooperation.

The meeting was also updated on the development of the Consolidated Strategy of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), where a strong cross-sectoral and cross-pillar collaboration was emphasised. The strategy is expected to equip the ASEAN region to face the challenges presented by the 4IR, which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic./.