Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid (R), permanent secretary at MCYS, at the final working group meeting of mid-term review of the implementation of ASCC Blueprint, held at The Empire Hotel & Country Club. Picture: BT/Saifulizam
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
SENIOR ASEAN officials convened in Brunei yesterday for the final meeting of the Mid-Term Review Working Group for the implementation of a socio-cultural blueprint.
Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, said the officials recommended for the report on the mid-term review to be published and made public after it is adopted.
He added that the mid-term review is still a work in progress and that the working group has almost reached its target.
The working group met in the Sultanate earlier this month as well as in Indonesia in June and Thailand in August.
Updates on the outcomes of the working group's meeting will be among the main items of agenda at the15th Meeting of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA) taking place today and tomorrow.
A draft report on the mid-term review will be presented to the ministers at the 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council on Thursday, before the final report is submitted to the23rd ASEAN Summit on October 9.
The socio-cultural blueprint was adopted by leaders of the 10-nation bloc in 2009 at the 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand.
The 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council is expected to finalise arrangements for the 23rd ASEAN Summit to be hosted by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan BruneiDarussalam, next month.
The meeting is expected to be chaired by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Yang BerhormatPehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah where the progress report on the mid-term review of the implementation of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint adopted by ASEAN leaders in 2009 will be presented.
The council is also expected to discuss documents to be submitted to the ASEAN Summit and related meetings on October 9 and 10.
Brunei Darussalam funded the regional part of the review by an independent consultant which aimed to complement national reviews by each of the ASEAN member states.
Ministers are also expected to note the outcomes of other ministerial meetings under the socio-cultural pillar since the council last met, here in March.
The meetings were the eighth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on youth in May, on rural development and poverty eradication hosted by Indonesia in July and on social welfare and development hosted by Cambodia, early this month.
The meeting on Thursday will be preceded by another meeting of the Mid-Term Review Working Group on Monday followed by the 15th meeting of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The senior officials are expected to be updated on recent development in youth, culture, sports, education and disaster management at the ASCC meeting this year chaired by Brunei.
The Brunei Times