ACC organized the Annual Meeting of Education Officials of ASEAN Embassies in Beijing

On 22 March 2016, the Annual Meeting of Education Officials of ASEAN Embassies in Beijing was organized by ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) at the ACC Secretariat in Beijing. The Meeting was attended by 11 Education officials from ASEAN Embassies namely Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam, as well as 3 representatives form ACC, and chaired by Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division (ECTD) of ACC Mr. Tri Purnajaya. 

Director of ECTD warmly welcomed all the participants and highlighted the development of ASEAN-China relations in various fields, ACC’s educational exchanges in 2015 and 2016 work programme. Director of ECTD also moderated the discussions between ACC and ASEAN officials on a number of topics, including ACC’s four flagship projects for education in 2016 namely, ASEAN-China Youth Exchange, Supporting ASEAN Students Activities, Mutual Exchanges between ASEAN-China Vocational Education Institutions, as well as CAECW and SEAMEO Collaboration Projects. Director of ECTD further added that 2016 was a very important year, marking the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations as well as the ASEAN-China Year of Educational Exchange. He also thanked ASEAN official for their support for ACC throughout the years and hoped that ACC could continue to serve ASEAN Member States through partnership and collaboration and in activities such as the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW). Director of ECTD also highlighted CAECW which would be held in May 2016 and hoped that all ASEAN Embassy officials could support and take part in the activities. 

At the Meeting, Dr. Mohd Rozi Ismail, Education Counsellor of the Malaysian Embassy made a presentation on Malaysia's higher education and introduced the Malaysian Education Blueprint (2015-2025), the new higher education system and landscape, as well as its challenges. He hoped to cooperate with ACC, as well as other ASEAN embassies and relevant institutions to benefit each other. 

All the ASEAN officials appreciated ACC's effort in organizing the Annual Meeting and suggested that the meeting between ASEAN education officials could be more frequent, so as to provide them with more opportunities to share experience and knowledge on the development of ASEAN education systems and policies. The ASEAN officials were also keen on ASEAN-China collaborations in vocational education, higher education, as well as ASEAN-China students' mobility.