Articles Category: Culture

With a population of over 700 million and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the ASEAN region is undeniably a rising powerhouse. Unfortunately, few realise that this progress is built on the region’s extraordinary biodiversity and the ecosys

Climate change and biodiversity in ASEAN Southeast Asia is on the frontlines of the interconnected triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. However, the region is among the most vulnerable globally, with climate chang

The ASEAN region, endowed with extraordinary biological richness, stands at a defining moment in its sustainable development journey. Its terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems rank among the most diverse and productive on Earth. These ecosystems

Deborah (Debbie) Tomasowa is a Jakarta-based visual artist known for her striking ballpoint pen portraits. Passionate about drawing people, animals, and everyday objects, she brings extraordinary detail and precision to life using one of the simplest t

The annual ASEAN Tourism Awards, presented at the ASEAN Tourism Forum, recognise top tourism performers based on standards developed by ASEAN. The recipients of the 2025 ASEAN Tourism Awards were as follows: 30 establishments for the ASEAN Homestay Awa

Viet Nam’s tourism sector has staged a remarkable post-pandemic recovery, emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing destinations. Following the reopening in 2022, international arrivals rose from 3.7 million in 2022 to approximately 17.6 mill

On 11 October 2024, Ekkaphab Phanthavong officially completes his tenure as the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. Before assuming his role at the ASEAN Secretariat, he was the Ambassador/Permanent Representative

As the Lao PDR assumes the Chairpersonship of ASEAN and your Ministry leads the ASCC, could you share Lao PDR’s top priorities for the ASCC?

Dr. Kao Kim Hourn began his five year-term as Secretary-General of ASEAN on 1 January 2023. He served two terms as Secretary of State of Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2003-2013) and two terms as Minister Delegate

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, first woman Prime Minister of Norway, pioneered the concept of sustainable development and shaped its early agenda. She is a founding member of The Elders, the group of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in

Tourism has been one of the hardest- hit sectors by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Secretary Romulo-Puyat talks to The ASEAN about the pandemic’s impact on the Philippines’ tourism industry, on jobs and businesses, and how the country is working towa

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reflects on his 10-year tenure as chief diplomat and development advocate, and the role that mutlilateralism plays in addressing ongoing and emerging global challenges.

Gretel Seet Jia Xuan (25) is the Coordinator of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network Southeast Asia. Her interest in biodiversity began at the Festival of Biodiversity, organised by the Singapore National Parks Board. There, she discovered that Singap

Brikko Martillo Dumas, known as Bricx, is a 34-year-old Filipino artist, educator, and climate advocate. He was born in Leyte, in the Philippines’ Eastern Visayas region, and moved to Manila as a teenager. When Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda)

Twenty-five-year-old Thae Eaindra Hsu was born and raised in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar. Mawlamyine is known for its golden pagodas and its proximity to the Gulf of Mottama Ramsar site, a coastal wetland area recognised for its biodiversity and the

Mark Liao’s journey into biodiversity work began in 2017 when he joined the Borneo Eco-Warriors programme under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). He was 22 then when he latched onto this idea and, in the same year, established an e

Thirty-four-year-old Megawati, a community worker based in Wangi-wangi Island in Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, joined the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity’s Effectively Managing Networks of Marine Protected Areas in Large Marine Ecosystems in the

Founded in 2009 in the heritage town of Hoi An, Viet Nam, STREETS International is a 14-month culinary and hospitality training programme that opens doors for disadvantaged youth aged 17 to 25. The programme is entirely free and goes well beyond techni