Vietnam supports Malaysia’s proposed priorities for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), said Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa during the 13th meeting of the ASCC Council in Kuala Lumpur on March 26.

He said Vietnam will launch activities at home to realise ASCC priorities in 2015 and hoped the ASCC’s post-2015 blueprint would guide action plans for relevant agencies.

In his view, carrying out awareness campaigns about the advent of the ASEAN Community later this year is an urgent task.

Participants hailed Malaysian and ASCC senior officials for drafting key documents for approval by ASEAN leaders this year, including a Declaration on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision, an ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, a Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN Declaration on Strengthening Social Protection and a Joint Declaration on Aging and Empowering the Elderly in the ASEAN, among others.

They praised the ASCC’s High-level Task Force for drafting the ASEAN Community’s 2025 Vision and the blueprint for the ASCC.

They agreed with recommendations put forth at the 18th Senior Officials Meeting for the ASCC (SOCA-18), including holding national consultations with government agencies to collect feedback on several draft documents towards building a comprehensive, sustainable, united, vibrant ASEAN community that is human-oriented and socially responsible.

They issued a joint statement and agreed with the ASCC Council’s report to be submitted to the 26th ASEAN Summit, slated for April in Kuala Lumpur.-VNA