MANILA, 9 May 2018 – Representatives of the local government and academia participated in the ASEAN Project Development Training Program for the Philippines organised on 8-9 May in Manila by the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs (FSI-DFA), Philippines.
The training was held by the FSI-DFA in coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat, the Office of ASEAN Affairs of the DFA, and the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN.
Director-General Hellen B. De La Vega of the ASEAN-Philippines National Secretariat stressed in her opening remarks that the training was a timely undertaking as ASEAN gears up to enhance regional integration and deepens cooperation with ASEAN’s external partners to help realise the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
Approximately 60 representatives from the government and the academe participated in the two-day training, which included lectures, presentations, discussions, and group exercises. Topics included the development of quality project proposals, cooperation with ASEAN’s external partners, the implementation and monitoring of the actual projects, and reporting requirements for completed projects.
ASEAN Secretariat officers and Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Philippines to ASEAN were among the training’s resource persons.
In her closing remarks, Ambassador Buensuceso highlighted the importance of translating the vision of ASEAN’s Leaders to practical, bankable projects and activities in bringing ASEAN closer to the people it serves. She emphasised that such efforts at community-building would help realise a truly people-centred and people-oriented ASEAN.
Participants expressed appreciation for the interactive approach and in-depth exchanges among participants and resource persons alike, as well as the network established to support agencies interested in developing project proposals in the future.
Participants with ready project proposals were also given the opportunity to consult representatives from the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Programme Management Team at a clinic held immediately after the training.
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