CHAPTER V NETWORKING WITH RELATED AGENCIES AND MECHANISMS
ACC and UNESCAP
On 6 December 2013, SG Ma Mingqiang met with Dr. Sangmin Nam, Deputy Director of UNESCAP East and Northeast Asia Office (ENEA) at the ACC. SG Ma and Dr. Nam briefly introduced the work of ACC and ENEA to each other, and exchanged ideas on future cooperation on environmental protection, eco-tourism and HR training between ACC and ENEA.
ACC and ASEAN-China Joint Cooperation Committee (ACJCC)
On 25 March 2014, SG Ma Mingqiang was invited to brief the 15th ASEAN-China Joint Cooperation Committee(ACJCC) Meeting on ACC's projects in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, and H.E. Amb. Suvat Chirapant, Permanent Representative of Thailand to ASEAN. Members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives(CPR) to ASEAN, delegates from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, the Export-Import Bank of China, China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center, China Foreign Affairs University were present.
SG Ma expressed appreciation for the active support of the ACC Members, and introduced the recent activities carried out by the ACC in the fields of trade, investment, education, culture and tourism. SG Ma said that the ACC has organized and attended several events under the framework of 2014 China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange Year since January 2014 and received positive response. The ACC will continue to open more financing channels to launch more China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange activities. The ACC expects the continuous support from its Members, especially that the approved ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund could be allocated to the ACC more efficiently.
ACC, ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) and ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC)
1. On 20 January 2014, the 2nd Informal Meeting among Secretary-Generals of ACC, ASEAN-Japan Centre and ASEAN-Korea Centre was held in Kuching, Malaysia. SG Ma Mingqiang, H.E. Chung Hae Moon, Secretary-General of ASEAN-Korea Centre and H.E. Onishi Yoshikuni, Secretary-General of ASEAN-Japan Centre attended the meeting. The meeting noted that the ASEAN Plus Three Summit expressed anticipation on the three Centres playing a more constructive role in accelerating regional integration. The Secretary-Generals had an in-depth exchange of views on future cooperation among the three Centres, such as implementing joint work programmes, producing joint publications, personnel exchange and sharing of information and best practices.
2. From 26 to 28 March 2014, the delegation of Information and Public Relations Division (IPRD) of ACC, headed by Ms. Lada Phumas, Director of IPRD, conducted a three-day best practice sharing trip to ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. The IPRD delegation had an in-depth exchange of views with the Information and Data Unit, Development Planning and General Affairs Unit, Trade and Investment Unit and Culture and Tourism Unit of AKC, particularly on their PR activities and publications.
AKC Secretary-General Chung Hae Moon highly commended the fruitful achievements of ACC in promoting ASEAN-China functional cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture, tourism , information and public relations. He opined this trip by ACC would open up new dimensions in cooperation among AKC and ACC, and wished to see more personnel exchange and sharing of information and best practice among AKC and ACC in years to come.
3. On 19 June 2014, ACC hosted the 4th Informal Meeting among the Secretary-Generals of ACC, AJC and AKC at the ACC Secretariat in Beijing. SG Ma Mingqiang, AJC Secretary-General Mr. Yoshikuni Onishi and AKC Secretary-General Mr. Chung Hae Moon attended the meeting.
The meeting shared experience and exchanged best practice on project implementation by illustrating the flagship projects of each Centre. The meeting also discussed possible areas of future cooperation, including personnel exchange at a time when a Centre is in preparation for a certain project, holding joint collaborative projects including joint human resource development projects, producing joint publications, seeking further cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and exploring the possibility of joint presentations by the three Secretary-Generals to ASEAN Secretary-General, etc. The meeting reached consensus that the next informal meeting among the Secretary-Generals of ACC, AJC and AKC will be hosted by AJC in Japan, at an appropriate time agreeable to the three Secretary-Generals.
ACC and ASEAN Embassies in China
1. On 15 January 2014, Ms. Lada Phumas, Director of Information and Public Relations Division (IPRD) of ACC, hosted a working lunch for the information and public relations officials of ASEAN Embassies in Beijing. She expressed her heartfelt appreciation to ACB for the generous support to IPRD during the past year, and looked forward to future cooperation between the two sides. The ASEAN representatives commended the good work of IPRD in enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between ASEAN and China, took note of the new projects of IPRD, and pledged their continued support to IPRD.
2. On 6 March 2014, SG Ma Mingqiang met with H.E. Mr. Soegeng Rahardjo, who just assumed the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to China. SG Ma briefly introduced the activities carried out by the ACC since its establishment to promote ASEAN-China functional cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture and tourism. Ambassador Soegeng expressed appreciation for the remarkable achievements made by the ACC since its establishment. Ambassador Soegeng said that he would try to fulfill three major targets on promoting the trade volume between Indonesia and China to 100 billion USD, pushing more Chinese investors and encouraging 3 million Chinese visitor to Indonesia within his three-year term. The Indonesian Embassy in China would fully support the work of ACC and carry out more joint activities．
3. On 27-30 May 2014, ACC organized a working visit to Zhejiang Province for ASEAN Embassies and Consulates. Six education officials from the Embassies of Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, and Consulates-General of Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand in Shanghai joined the trip. The delegation visited Zhejiang Normal University (ZNU), a public university, Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages (ZJYXUFL), a private university and Jinhua Polytechnic (JP), a public vocational college. As the 9th activity of the ACC Lecture Series for China-ASEAN Double 100,000 Student Mobility Goals, the visit helped the ASEAN Officials understand better education development of Zhejiang Province and opportunities for students from ASEAN countries.
4. On 15 August 2014, ACC organized a tour for Ambassadors of ASEAN Commitee in Beijing (ACB) to SANY Heavy Industry. President of SANY Group Mr. Tang Xiuguo held a meeting with SG Ma Mingqiang and Ambassadors and gave an introduction of company history, R&D strength and recent developement in ASEAN. Mr. Tang said that ASEAN became the fastest growing market for SANY and SANY set up several industrial parks in some ASEAN countries, which contributes to the development of local economies. SANY was looking forward to further cooperate with ACB to expand their presence in Southeast Asia. ACB members expressed their gratitude for SANY's hospitality. They noted that this meaningful tour helped to deepen their understanding of Chinese economic and technical developement. They hoped to see more SANY investment in their respective country and are willing to give any neccessary assistance to SANY to further explore the ASEAN market.
ACC and Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat
On 27 June 2014, Mr. Iwatani Shigeo, Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) led the TCS delegation to visit ACC and met with SG Ma Mingqiang. The two Secretary-Generals exchanged views and information on the historical moment of the establishment of the two inter-governmental organizations, mechanisms, roles, responsibilities as well as past & current activities conducting to enhance ASEAN-China cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, education, culture and tourism and the trilateral cooperation between China, Japan and the ROK. Secretary-General Iwatani Shigeo was impressed by ACC's role and activities in raising awareness about ASEAN-China relations and ACC.
ACC and Cultural Agencies
On 18 April, SG Ma Mingqiang met with Mr. Wang Yongzhang, Vice Chairman of Chinese Culture Promotion Society, at the secretariat of ACC. They exchanged views on future cooperation in promoting ASEAN-China cultural exchanges.
ACC and China Radio International
On 26 December 2013, SG Ma Mingqiang had a meeting with Mr. An Xiaoyu, the Director of Southeast Asia Broadcasting Centre from China Radio International (CRI). SG Ma thanked CRI for its support to ACC's activities such as My ASEAN & China Multi-media Art Exhibition Series and the Reception to Celebrate ACC Micro-blog Fans Reached 1 Million. He looked forward to having more productive cooperation with CRI in the year 2014, which would highly contribute to ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year. Director An Xiaoyu reaffirmed CRI's willingness to continue its media support to ACC. He commended ACC for its concrete planned projects on information and public relations to be implemented in 2014. He also introduced CRI's plan to translate the Chinese TV series into ASEAN languages through its existing services in the coming years. He wished that ACC and CRI would explore further possibility to co-organize some projects to promote ASEAN-China relations in 2014.
ACC and Global Times
On 30 April 2014, SG Ma Mingqiang met with Mr. Shi Ding, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Global Times Online Culture Communication Company (www.huanqiu.com) at ACC. SG Ma briefed on ACC’s efforts in promoting ASEAN-China functional cooperation in trade, investment, education, tourism and culture, as well as ACC’s role as a bridge of communication and friendship between the peoples of ASEAN and China. Mr. Shi Ding highly commended ACC’s remarkable achievements so far, and expressed sincere appreciation to ACC for its strong support and good cooperation with Huanqiu.com in past years. Both sides expressed willingness to work with each other to carry out joint cooperative programs particularly media cooperation in the future.