ASEAN Community

     ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

          The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community aims to contribute to realising an ASEAN Community that is people-oriented and socially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the peoples and Member States of ASEAN. It seeks to forge a common identity and build a caring and sharing society which is inclusive and where the well-being, livelihood, and welfare of the peoples are enhanced.

ASCC is focused on nurturing the human, cultural and natural resources for sustained development in a harmonious and people-oriented ASEAN.

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint

The ASCC Blueprint represents the human dimension of ASEAN cooperation and upholds ASEAN commitment to address the region’s aspiration to lift the quality of life of its peoples. The goals of the ASCC are envisaged to be achieved by implementing concrete and productive actions that are people-centred and socially responsible. This set of cooperative activities has been developed based on the assumption that the three pillars of the ASEAN Community are interdependent and interrelated and that linkages are imperative to ensure complementarity and unity of purpose.

The ASCC Blueprint was adopted by the ASEAN Leaders at the 14th ASEAN Summit on 1 March 2009 in Cha-am/Hua Hin, Thailand.

         

.

ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science and    Technology (AMMST)

   Science, technology and innovation can be powerful determinants and enablers of economic development, educational programmes and protection of the environment. This view is shared by the ASEAN Leaders who have recognised science and technology (S&T) as a key factor in sustaining economic growth, enhancing community well-being and promoting integration in ASEAN. The Leaders have envisioned that by 2020 that ASEAN will be technology competitive, competent in strategic and enabling technologies, with an adequate pool of technologically qualified and trained manpower, and strong networks of scientific and technological institution and centres of excellence.

 To push forward to build a strong S&T base for ASEAN as a single integrated economy, and to ensure ASEAN to remain globally competitive, ASEAN Member Countries have to move up the technology ladder and focus on enhancing their capability for technological innovation in many areas. This task, however, is not easy as ASEAN, a grouping of ten developing countries with great variance in the level of science and technology capability, has to move the cooperation forward more vigourusly and promote deeper integration. ASEAN must also promote greater awareness of its people of the S&T activities and its roles and contributions towards sustainable economic development and provide ways and means to innovate. The involvement of specific elements in ASEAN community such as private sector in S&T undertakings, especially in research and technology development and commercialisation of technologies must also be promoted.

To ensure that the S&T cooperation in ASEAN remains relevant and supportive to the directives of the ASEAN Leaders and S&T Ministers, a series of Plans of Action in Science and Technology have been developed since the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST) was established in 1978. The most recent Plan: The Action Plan of Action on Science and Technology (APAST) 2007-2011 was endorsed by the ASEAN S&T Ministers in February 2007. The Plan was developed taking into account the various directives and initiative of the ASEAN Leaders (e.g. Vientiane Action Programme), and S&T Ministers, Committee on Science and Technology (COST) and the national S&T plans in the ASEAN Member Countries. The Plan, which identifies 6 thrusts and 24 supporting actions, essentially provides appropriate guidelines for identification and formulation of programmes and projects to achieve better coordination and cooperation to strengthen the capabilities of S&T in ASEAN.

The current S&T cooperation in ASEAN focuses on nine programme areas, namely (i) food science and technology (ii) biotechnology, (iii) meteorology and geophysics, (iv) marine science and technology, (v) non-conventional energy research, (vi) microelectronics and information technology, (vii) material science and technology, (viii) space technology and applications, and (ix) S&T infrastructure and resources development. To coordinate and implement activities in each area, a Sub-Committee is established.

Acronyms:

ABAPAST: Advisory Body on ASEAN Plan of Action on Science and Technology

ABASF: Advisory Body of the ASEAN Science Fund

AMMST: ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science & Technology

ASEAN-China JSTC: Joint Science and Technology Committee

ASEAN-India WGST: Working Group on Science and Technology

ASEAN-Russia WGST: Working Group on Science and Technology

ASEAN-EC JCCSCST: Joint Cooperation Committee Sub-Committee on Science and Technology

ASEAN COST+3: Committee on Science and Technology Plus Three

COST: Committee on Science and Technology

SCB: Sub-Committee on Biotechnology

SCFST: Sub-Committee on Food Science and Technology

SCIRD: Sub-Committee on Infrastructure and Resources Development

SCMG: Sub-Committee on Meteorology and Geophysics

SCMIT: Sub-Committee on Microelectronics and Information Technology

SCMSAT: Sub-Committee on Marine Science and Technology

SCMST: Sub-Committee on Material Science and Technology

SCNCER: Sub-Committee on Non-Conventional Energy Research

SCOSA: Sub-Committee on Space Technology and Applications

To provide better services to ASEAN public and government agencies in the fields of meteorology and seismology, two ASEAN centers have been established, they are ASEAN Specialised Meteorology Center (ASMC) and ASEAN Earthquake Information Center (AEIC).

ASEAN is actively pursuing close cooperation in S&T with its Dialogue Partners and Sectoral Dialogue Partner. Several permanent bodies have been established with ASEAN Dialogue Partners such as China, India, EU and Russia, and also with the Plus Three countries. Regular meetings among S&T officials from ASEAN and Dialogue Partners are convened to promote closer cooperation. In addition, ASEAN also continues to forge closely collaboration in S&T with international organisations such as UNESCO and WMO.

To further promote the awareness of public to S&T cooperation in ASEAN, and to enhance the interaction between scientific communities, policy makers, industries and manufacturer associations, ASEAN organises regular S&T events namely ASEAN Food Conference (AFC) and ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW). The outcomes of research works undertaken by ASEAN scientists and researchers are also published regularly in the ASEAN Journal of S&T for Development (AJSTD). From time to time, ASEAN also issues various publications

                                                 

ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting   (ASED)

      Education underpins ASEAN community building.  Education lies at the core of ASEAN’s development process, creating a knowledge-based society and contributing to the enhancement of ASEAN competitiveness. ASEAN also views education as the vehicle to raise ASEAN awareness, inspire the “we feeling”, and create a sense of belonging to the ASEAN Community and understanding of the richness of ASEAN’s history, languages, culture and common values. At the 11th Summit in December 2005, ASEAN Leaders set new directions for regional education collaboration when they welcomed the decision of the ASEAN Education Ministers to convene the ASEAN Education Ministers’ Meetings (ASED) on a regular basis. The Leaders also called for ASEAN Education Ministers to focus on enhancing regional cooperation in education. As the collective entity to enhance regional cooperation in education, the ASEAN Education Ministers identified four priorities that ASEAN cooperation on education would address, namely: (i) Promoting ASEAN Awareness among ASEAN citizens, particularly youth; (ii) Strengthening ASEAN identity through education; (iii) Building ASEAN human resources in the field of education; and (iv) Strengthening ASEAN University Networking. To this end, various projects and activities have been/are being developed/organised to fulfil the directives.   In recognition of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization’s (SEAMEO) contribution to human resource development in the region since 1965, the Education Ministers agreed that the existing ASEAN and SEAMEO forums on education should integrate their respective programmes and activities in a complementary manner. The priorities of ASEAN cooperation on education would be undertaken through collaboration with SEAMEO.  ASEAN cooperation on education is overseen at the Ministerial level by an ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting – which meets annually – and the implementation of the programmes and activities for education matters is carried out by the ASEAN Senior Officials on Education (SOM-ED), which reports to the ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting. SOM-ED also oversees cooperation on higher education, which is coordinated by the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The AUN was established to serve as an ASEAN mechanism to (i) Promote cooperation among ASEAN scholars, academicians, and scientists in the region; (ii) Develop academic and professional human resource in the region; (iii) Promote information dissemination among the ASEAN academic community; and, (iv) Enhance the awareness of regional identity and the sense of ‘ASEANness’ among members. Visit the AUN website at www.aun-sec.org