HCM City (VNA)♒ – The Ministry of Home Affairs chaired a national conference in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15 to conduct an end-term review of the implementation of a project on building and implementing an action plan to realise the goals of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) until 2025 (Project 161).

In his opening remarks, Luu Quang Tuan, Director of the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation, said the ASCC goals to 2025 had been concretised into specific tasks and solutions, with clearly assigned responsibilities for relevant agencies, provincial and municipal departments, people’s committees at all levels, and socio-political organisations. Particularly, since July 1, the organisational structures of the Government and local administrations have been streamlined to meet the requirements of the new context. This result has made a positive and practical contribution to achieving the project’s first objective, building a cohesive community that delivers benefits to the people, he said. As the implementation of the regional ASCC Blueprint 2025 and national Project 161 draws to a close, ministries, sectors, and localities have been actively sharing information, exchanging lessons learned, and discussing challenges faced during the implementation process. In parallel with the end-term evaluation, ASEAN member states have been rolling out newly approved strategic plans endorsed by ASEAN leaders at the 46th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia in May 2025. These priorities aim to continue building a dynamic and resilient ASEAN Community that not only safeguards the welfare of its people but also fosters regional growth and progress. At the conference, Dr. Puthsodary Tat, representing the ASEAN Secretariat, shared updates on the implementation of the ASCC Blueprint 2025 and progress of the regional end-term review, as well as introduced the ASCC Strategic Plan and results framework. Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, Director of the ASEAN Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the focus in implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 is to strengthen solidarity, emphasise self-reliance and strategic autonomy, maintain ASEAN’s centrality, and enhance its “capacity to convene.” The bloc will promote internal connectivity, upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), negotiate the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), and develop transport and energy infrastructure, including the ASEAN Power Grid. ASEAN will also expand economic, trade, and investment cooperation, diversify markets, and strengthen partner contributions to regional collaboration, while ensuring differences and competition do not hinder joint efforts, he said. Strategic cooperation areas include logistics, digital transformation, digital economy, renewable energy, digital finance, artificial intelligence governance, green transition, food security, smart agriculture, and completing Timor-Leste’s accession procedures at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October 2025. Delegates also exchanged information on ASEAN cooperation across its three Political-Security, Economic, and Socio-Cultural pillars, shared results from the 2021–2025 implementation of Project 161, and discussed the preparation of the end-term review report./.