ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council set for final meeting

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Xinhua) - The ASEAN ministerial council that coordinates regional socio-cultural cooperation is set to hold this week its final meeting under Brunei's chairmanship of ASEAN this year, a press release issued by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports said Sunday.

The 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council (ASCC) on Thursday is expected to finalize arrangements for the 23rd ASEAN Summit to be hosted next month by Brunei.

Chaired by Pehin Hazair Abdullah, the minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Council is expected to hear a progress report on the Mid-Term Review of the Implementation of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint adopted by ASEAN leaders in 2009. Brunei funded the regional part of the review by an independent consultant, which aims to complement national reviews by each of the ASEAN member states.

The ministers are also expected to note the outcomes of other ministerial meetings under the socio-cultural pillar since the council last meeting in Brunei in March.

These are the 8th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth hosted by Brunei in May, the 8th ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication hosted by Indonesia in July and the 8th ASEAN Meeting on Social Welfare and Development hosted by Cambodia earlier this month.

In addition, the council is expected to discuss documents to be submitted to the ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings on Oct. 9 and 10.

The meeting on Thursday will be preceded by a meeting of the Mid-Term Review Working Group on Monday, which will be followed by the 15th Meeting of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council (SOCA) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The senior officials expect to be updated on recent developments in youth, culture, sports, education and disaster management, some of the priority areas under Brunei's chairmanship of the ASCC Council this year.