Hanoi (VNA) – A senior official from the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs has affirmed Vietnam’s strong support and active participation in the implementation of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Strategic Plan.
Hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs in Hanoi on June 23–24, the 12th Meeting of the AD HOC Working Group to Develop the ASCC Strategic Plan brought together delegates from all ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat, with a delegation from Timor-Leste attending as an observer. Malaysia and the Philippines co-chaired the event.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Vu Chien Thang welcomed participants and congratulated the Working Group and the ASEAN Senior Officials Committee for the ASCC (SOCA) on the completion of the ASCC Strategic Plan, which was recently endorsed by ASEAN leaders alongside the political-security, economic, and connectivity strategies under the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.
Thang emphasised that the adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and its four strategic plans reflect the region’s proactive approach in an increasingly complex global environment. These strategic documents, he said, build upon ASEAN’s achievements, uphold its core values, and create new opportunities for intra-bloc and external cooperation.
Deputy Minister Thang affirmed that the ministry would actively support and engage in the implementation of the ASCC Strategic Plan and specific tasks assigned to the Working Group.
At the meeting, Co-Chairs Dr Christina Yeo Ken Yin from Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Mike Mohen A. Padilla from the Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development extended their appreciation to the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs and to the Australia for ASEAN Futures Initiative (Aus4ASEAN Futures) for their support in organising the 12th meeting.
They recalled that during the 11th meeting, held earlier this year, the Working Group had successfully developed a preliminary draft of the KPI Development Guidelines. Building on that progress, the 12th meeting aimed to further refine the ASCC Results Framework and the detailed communication plans.
Over the two-day meeting, Working Group members discussed communication plans to promote the ASCC Strategic Plan, measures to enhance its monitoring and evaluation based on the ASCC 2025 Guidelines, and mapping existing sectoral monitoring and evaluation systems.
They also reviewed the post-2025 Results Framework roadmap, with a focus on KPIs proposed by ASCC sectoral bodies.
Building on the outcomes of the 11th meeting, the Working Group discussed lessons learned from monitoring and evaluating the ASCC Blueprint 2025, using them as key inputs for developing the Results Framework.
The meeting also reviewed specific KPIs proposed for sectoral strategic measures by ASCC sectoral bodies, and discussed the draft guidelines on KPI development, stressing the importance of aligning sectoral work plans with related strategic actions and ensuring consistency with the overarching goals of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045./.
