SINGAPORE, 19 September 2025 – The 13th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Strategic Plan (AHWG) took place on 17-19 September in Singapore. It comprised an Interface between the AHWG and Research Organisations and Think Tanks, as well as a drafting and plenary session for the ASCC Results Framework.
The Interface with Research Organisations and Think Tanks was co-organised with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) of Singapore and ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute Singapore, while the drafting and plenary session was Co-chaired by Dr. Christina Yeo Ken Yin, Undersecretary of International Relations Division (Culture) at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, and Hannah A. Giray-Carcido, Assistant Bureau Director of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau, Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines.
In his welcome remarks at the Interface, Esa Masood, Deputy Secretary of MSF, called to strengthen and deepen the collaboration between ASEAN and Think Tanks and Research Organisations. He underscored the importance of familiarising, mainstreaming, and localising the ASCC Strategic Plan for the benefit of all communities. Experts from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Cambodia Development Resource Institute, Lao Academy for Economic and Social Sciences and Vietnam National University exchanged views on how they can support public engagement and identify innovative ways to familiarise and mainstream the ASCC Strategic Plan for its sustained, effective implementation.
During the drafting and plenary session of the 13th AHWG Meeting, Dr. Christina Yeo Ken Yin emphasised the importance of strengthening coherence across sectoral bodies and ensuring consistency with the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, the SDGs, and national priorities.
Hannah A. Giray-Carcido also underscored that the drafting process is central to ASEAN’s shared endeavour, as it enables the measurement of progress on commitments and demonstrates the impact of ASCC cooperation, ensuring that ASEAN continues to deliver tangible benefits to the people.
The AHWG reviewed and deliberated on the inputs from ASCC Sectoral Bodies to the draft ASCC Strategic Plan Results Framework, particularly on ensuring that the Key Performance Indicators are clear, robust, and measurable. The meeting also discussed the progress made in communicating the ASCC Strategic Plan to the wider public, with an emphasis on increasing awareness and understanding of its core priorities and key result areas.
San Lwin, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASCC, expressed optimism about finalising the ASCC Results Framework and its KPIs by the end of 2025 to ensure the establishment of baselines and set targets for the Strategic Plan. This meeting is part of the ongoing activities to support the communication of the ASCC Strategic Plan project funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) 3.0 and the development of the Results Framework and Baseline project funded by the Aus4ASEAN Futures Initiative.
Photo Credit: ASEAN Secretariat
