Viet Nam joins the 16th ASEAN Senior Officials Responsible for Culture and Arts Meeting and Related Meetings

The 16^th ASEAN Senior Officials responsible for Culture and Arts Meeting (the 16^th SOMCA)and related Meetings with Dialogue Partners were held virtually on October 20^th, 2020 and chaired by H.E Madam Pen Moni Makara, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of the Kingdom of Cambodia-Chairman of ASEAN Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts Meeting (AMCA),  2020-2022. The Meeting was attended by H.E Mr. Kung Phoak, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN and senior officials responsible for culture and arts from ASEAN and Dialogue Partners. The Viet Nam Delegation was led by Mr. Le Ngoc Dinh, Deputy Director General, International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 

H.E Madam Pen Moni Makara delivered the opening remarks at the 16^th SOMCA. Representatives from ASEAN Member States finalized two documents tentatively to be adopted at the 9^th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (the 9^th AMCA), and the 37^thASEAN Summit afterwards, namely the drafts of the Joint Media Statement and the Narrative of ASEAN Identity, the latter to mark 2020 Year of ASEAN Identity. Other issues to be discussed are the ASEAN Cultural Heritage List, the enhancement of cooperation on creative industries and Siem Riep to be the ASEAN Culture City 2020-2022 as nominated by 2020-2022 AMCA Chair, Cambodia, the preparation of agenda for the 9^th AMCA and related issues on cultural cooperation amid the complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Viet Nam provided inputs, especially on the Terms of Reference of the Expert Panel and Ad-hoc Working Group on the feasibility of the ASEAN Cultural Heritage List and the draft of the Narrative of ASEAN Identity. 

ASEAN Member States appreciated and recognized the active cooperation from the People’s Republic of China, Japan and Republic of Korea at the 12^th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials for Culture and Arts (the 12^th SOMCA+3). The Meeting updated the progress of cooperation of ASEAN Plus Three Cultural Cooperation Network with projects on East Asia Culture Cities, cultural heritage cooperation and human resources development programs. As the ASEAN Plus Three Country Coordinator, Viet Nam updated the progress of ASEAN Plus Three Work Plan on Cooperation in Culture and the Arts 2019-2021. These updates and discussions will be submitted to the 9^th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (the 9^th AMCA Plus Three). 

The 8^th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus China Senior Officials on Culture and Arts (the 8^thSOMCA Plus China) was co-chaired by the Kingdom of Cambodia and the People’s Republic of China. The meeting reviewed the progress of ASEAN-China cultural cooperation and updated the ASEAN-China Work Plan on Cooperation in Culture and Arts 2019-2021. Results of the 8^th SOMCA Plus China Meeting will be submitted at the 5^th Meeting of ASEAN-China Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (the 5^th AMCA Plus China). 

The 7^th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Japan Senior Officials on Culture and Arts (7^th SOMCA Plus Japan) followed, with discussions, updates and preparation for the 4^th Meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (the 4^th AMCA Plus Japan). As the Country Coordinator for the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue Relations, Viet Nam presented updates on ASEAN-Japan cooperation in culture and arts recently and the ongoing projects including the ASEAN Cultural Heritage Digital Archive which Viet Nam will join in the 2^nd Phase in 2022-2023. 

Representatives of ASEAN Member States and Republic of Korea attended the 7^th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Republic of Korea Senior Officials on Culture and Arts (7^th SOMCA Plus ROK) to discuss cooperation and prepare for the 4^th Meeting of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (the 4^th AMCA Plus ROK). The Republic of Korea (ROK) is among the most active Dialogue Partners to cooperate with ASEAN on culture and arts. The Meeting, apart from updating the progress of ASEAN-ROK Work Plan on Cooperation in Culture and Arts 2019-2021, heard the proposals from the Republic of Korea for the Establishment of the ASEAN-ROK Visual Arts Organization and of the ASEAN-Korea Cultural Heritage Cooperation Organization; and the request for ASEAN participation in the event of an ASEAN-ROK Culture Innovation Summit in future and the request for cooperation on expanding opportunities to learn Korea language in the ASEAN region. Viet Nam and other ASEAN Member States discussed the proposals and requested ROK to clarify purposes and further details of the above initiatives prior to its submission to the 4^thAMCA Plus ROK.

At the above mentioned Meetings, Senior Officials from ASEAN and Dialogue Partners finalized the draft of the Joint Media Statement to submit to the 9^th AMCA Meeting, the 9^th AMCA Plus Three, the 5^th AMCA Plus China, the 4^th AMCA Plus Japan and the 4^th AMCA Plus ROK for adoption. According to plans, these Meetings will be held virtually on October 22^nd, 2020 and chaired by the Kingdom of Cambodia.