Civil service is the backbone of development in each ASEAN Member State and regional cooperation.  Enhancing regional cooperation for effective, efficient, transparent, accountable civil service systems and good governance is therefore contributing to the achievement of the ASEAN Vision 2025 which is an ASEAN Community that is politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and truly rules-based, people-oriented and people-centred.

The ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) Work Plan 2016-2020 sets out the goal to build and sustain a high performing, dynamic and citizen-centric civil service for the peoples of ASEAN and focuses on five priority areas: (a) Enhancing workforce competencies and standards in the public sectors; (b) Building institutional capacities; (c) Transformative leadership; (d) Strengthening ASEAN Resource Centres; and (e) Public sector reform and modernisation. Those goal and priority areas are retained in the ACCSM Work Plan 2021-2025 and will be implemented through new joint initiatives. Good governance and digitalization were identified as key enablers to achieve all Five Priority Areas.

Recognising the pivotal role of civil service in ASEAN Community building efforts, the ASEAN Leaders at the 30th ASEAN Summit in 2017 signed the ASEAN Declaration on the Role of Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. To further prepare ASEAN Civil Service in the digital era, the ASEAN Heads of Civil Service adopted the ASEAN Statement on Promotion of Good Governance and Acceleration of an Agile Civil Service in Digital Economy in 2019 and the ASEAN Guidelines on Public Service Delivery in 2020.