ACC Participated in the 37th SEAMEO HOM

From 25 to 27 November 2014, Mr. Tri Purnajaya, Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ASEAN-Chin Centre (ACC), and Ms. Sun Xuejing, the Education Officer, participated in the 37th SEAMEO Higher Officials Meeting (HOM) in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 123 participants representing 10 SEAMEO member countries, 3 associate members, partners including ACC, the ASEAN Secretariat, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, UNESCO Bangkok, SEAMEO Regional Centres and the SEAMEO Secretariat participated in the Meeting.

During the plenary session, Mr. Tri Purnajaya was invited to brief the Meeting on ACC's efforts in promoting ASEAN-China education cooperation, the gist of which was incorporated in the Working Paper and distributed to all the participants ad referendum. At the Meeting, Mr. Tri Purnajaya also elaborated on ACC-SEAMEO joint programmes under the framework of the MoU signed by the two sides in 2013, including the on-going ASEAN-China Education Science Network and ACC-SEAMEO Sports Education Innovation Award, as well as the cooperation programmes with SEAMEO Regional Centres on vocational education, higher education and facilitating scholarships to ASEAN students. ACC’s efforts in effectively promoting ASEAN-China education cooperation were highly praised by the education officials of ASEAN countries, and was taken note in the summary report of the Meeting. Mr. Tri Purnajaya and Ms. Sun Xuejing were approached by a number of participants who were keen to explore cooperation and partnership in the realm of education with ACC, and also took this opportunity to discuss with relevant stakeholders on the cooperation programmes in the next year.  

Ms. Shen Xuesong, Deputy Secretary-General of China Education Association of International Exchanges (CEAIE), was also invited to the 37th SEAMEO HOM. The accession of CEAIE as an Affiliate Member of SEAMEO was warmly welcomed by SEAMEO. Both CEAIE and SEAMEO commended ACC's efforts in bridging the two institutions' common interests, which would further contribute to the enhancement of education cooperation between ASEAN and China.