The opening ceremony of the national workshop on submitting mid-term review of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025 was held yesterday morning in Nay Pyi Taw.
The ceremony was attended by Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko, Deputy Minister U Kyi Min, Permanent Secretary U Htun Ohn, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community high-level official Dr Khin Kyi Pyar (Rector of the National University of Arts and Culture- Mandalay), officials from ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Pillar, experts and representatives from 15 sectoral bodies.
Union Minister Thura U Aung Ko said that the workshop was to review the implementation of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 in Myanmar during the term of the current government and to report the national-level mid-term assessment to the office of Secretary-General of ASEAN.
The Union Minister continued to say that it was to honour the ASEAN Day which falls on 8 August.
He added that the three pillars of ASEAN: Political and Security Community, Economic Community, and Socio-Cultural Community were supporting each other to cooperate for peace, stability and prosperity in the ASEAN region. In order to combine those three pillars to create an ASEAN Community, ASEAN leaders approved the declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II) in the ASEAN Summit held in Bali, Indonesia in 2003 to create an ASEAN Community by 2020, said the Union Minister.
Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 was signed at the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2007 in Cebu City in the Philippines, said the Union Minister. The office of Secretary-General of ASEAN implemented the first blueprint for the period of 2009-2015 and the second blueprint for the period of 2016-2025; the procedures of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint will be completed in 2025.
The Union Minister continued that the member-countries lay down the procedures for national-level assessment to submit regular reports on problems and profits which might be faced according to ASEAN Socio-Cultural Blueprint and new procedures will be set by the end of 2025 after studying the current assessment.
It is the result of procedures in blueprint which were thoughtfully set by the ASEAN’s leaders for the regional development and all the ASEAN member-countries are responsible to keep carrying out these duties, said the Union Minister, adding that all are cooperating in unity to be able to timely submit the mid-term assessment of second blueprint to the office of Secretary-General of ASEAN and coordination meetings were also held with officials of the office of Secretary-General of ASEAN and experts.
He also requested to keep cooperating to be able to send in time on 21 August 2020 to the office of Secretary-General of ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia to seek approvals of ASEAN’s leaders at 37th ASEAN Summit which will be held in November 2020.
The workshop will be held until 6 August by the representatives of 15 Sectoral Bodies from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Sports, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the Union Civil Service Board, which are related to the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council.
MNA
(Translated by Ei Phyu Phyu Aung and Khine Thazin Han)
PHOTO: MNA
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