Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, recently delivered a lecture at Nalanda University in India, focusing on “The Future of ASEAN” amidst the evolving strategic landscape. Dr. Kao highlighted ASEAN’s enduring relevance and resilience, emphasising ASEAN Centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) as guiding principles for regional engagement.
The tourism sector is a significant contributor to the ASEAN Economy. Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the travel and tourism industry generated approximately 12 per cent of ASEAN’s combined GDP and provided jobs to 42 million ASEAN people (ADB, 2022). Nonetheless, international tourist arrivals plummeted by more than 80 per cent, and tourism revenue … The ASEAN Economic Community Digest: Developing Sustainable Tourism in a Post COVID-19 ASEAN
by Gopi Krishnan (C&G Analytica), Sonia Kumari (Universiti Malaya), VGR Chandran Govindaraju (Universiti Malaya), and J.S. Keshminder (Universiti Teknologi MARA) Climate change is an existential threat that poses catastrophic environmental impacts and exacerbates poverty, health issues, and social inequalities. A product of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Research and Development Platform on Climate Change, this … ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Policy Brief No. 1 (2024): Strengthening the Climate Financing Ecosystem in ASEAN
As the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community maps its vision to respond to trends and challenges in the next twenty years, The ASEAN continues the conversation on people’s concerns and hopes for the future. The team aimed to involve various perspectives in this endeavour, reaching out extensively to gather insights. We received responses from our readers, social … In Your Words: ASEAN 2045
The ASEAN Socio-cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025 is a comprehensive roadmap towards realising an ASEAN Community that engages and benefits the peoples and is inclusive, sustainable, resilient, and dynamic by 2025. It is guiding policy frameworks and institutions for ASEAN Member States, and enhancing and strengthening their commitments and activities to achieve their targets across … Mapping the Vision: ASCC Launches a Robust Monitoring and Evaluation System
The 31st ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council Meeting was convened on 24 March 2024 in Luang Prabang, the Lao PDR. It was attended by ministers and representatives from 10 ASEAN Member States, including Timor-Leste as Observer and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn. The meeting deliberated on the Lao PDR ASCC chairmanship priorities … ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council: Charts Strategic Directions for ASCC Beyond 2025
Forty-year-old Nguyễn Trần Thủy Tiên’s lifelong dream was to become a teacher. Shortly after completing her master’s degree in Sign Language Education at Gallaudet University, United States, through the World Deaf Leadership Scholarship in 2016, she landed her dream job. Yet, upon returning to Viet Nam, she was confronted with the persistent barriers facing the … Nguyễn Trần Thủy Tiên: Nothing about the Deaf without the Deaf
Imagine going to your grandma’s home for a good meal and a warm hug. This appeal made Uma Oma (Grandmother’s House) Cafe the talk of the town when it first opened in September 2023 in Jakarta. Social media posts about the cafe went viral. Within six months, framed articles about the business and its employees … Uma Oma Café: Serving Up Equal Opportunities
Gemma Ambuyoc, 38, did not have an easy life growing up. Born out of wedlock, Gemma was raised by her grandmother, who struggled to support her. “I would not have been able to finish high school without my teacher, who gave me a job and a place to live,” Gemma recalled.
Fifty-two-year-old Touch Phalla dropped out of school when she was 12, just after finishing primary school. It was in the 1980s when her father had abandoned the family, leaving her mother to fend for Touch and her sister. Young Touch needed to become the family’s breadwinner. She baked traditional Khmer cakes and sold them on … Cash for Hope: A Story from Cambodia