The third Monitoring, Review and Evaluation (MRE) Meeting for the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 (Photo: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) - Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, Permanent Representative ofVietnam to ASEAN and Chair of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC),chaired the third Monitoring, Review and Evaluation(MRE) Meeting for the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, which was held virtually on September 8.
The meeting saw the participation of representatives from 15 specialised agenciesassigned to lead the implementation of MPAC 2025 initiatives such as the ASEAN SeniorTransport Officials Meeting (STOM), the ASEAN Senior Economic Officials’ Meeting(SEOM), the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOM-ED), the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM), and theLead Implementing Body for Sustainable Infrastructure (LIB-SI), as well as members of ACCC.
It reviewed and assessed the implementationof all 15 initiatives within the five strategic areas of MPAC 2025: sustainableinfrastructure, digital innovation, inter-logistics, optimisation of planning, andmovement of people.
In the area of sustainable infrastructure, projects on a list of those with potentialcontinue to be promoted through capacity building and technical support.
Participants also emphasised the need to strengthen coordination and raise awarenessof and call for more active participation from specialised ASEAN agencies in implementingMPAC 2025.
They also focused on discussions and comments on the second draft ofthe Progress Review Report for MPAC 2025 and the Mid-Term Review Report of MPAC 2025, forsubmission to the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) for review and approval priorto the 37th ASEAN Summit in November.
These are important documents for ASEAN to decide upon a suitable direction forcooperation in the second half of MPAC 2025, especially in the context of COVID-19.
MPAC is a strategicplan approved by ASEAN leaders in October 2010 in Hanoi, to promote intra-ASEANconnectivity and connectivity between the bloc and its partners, towards a smoothly-connectedASEAN community without barriers. At the 28th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane,Laos, in September 2016, ASEAN leaders endorsed MPAC 2025, with a vision to createa comprehensively-connected and unified ASEAN.
The ACCC was established to monitor, evaluate, and periodically report to the ACCand the ASEAN Summit on implementing MPAC 2025. The ACCC’s consultation with dialoguepartners and other partners has been in the form of an annual meeting since 2017,to raise awareness about MPAC 2025 and attract resources from partners for implementingprojects within the framework of the plan./.
VNA
