6th ASEAN Ministers of Culture meet in Viet Nam

The 6th ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and Arts (AMCA) Meeting and the AMCA Meetings with Dialogue Partners, including the ASEAN + 3, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (AMCA+3) were held in Hue, Viet Nam19 - 20 April 2014.

The meeting reviewed cultural cooperation within ASEAN and discussed the role of culture and arts. To date, the process of implementing the master plan for ASEAN socio- cultural community has achieved positive results. Nearly 90% of the total 339 goals related to the ASEAN socio-cultural community have been carried out through various activities-ASEAN cultural city, ASEAN Youth Camp, ASEAN ancient town network.

The ministers agreed to strengthen cultural and art cooperation for sustainable development of the ASEAN cultural community, towards building an ASEAN community by 2015.

They also reached high consensus on the role of culture as a pillar for sustainable development and agreed in principle with the Hue Declaration on the role of culture for the sustainable development of the ASEAN Community.

ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh said: “Cultural cooperation in ASEAN is focusing on the preservation of cultural heritages. Twenty-one of the 33 UNESCO-recognized world heritages in ASEAN are cultural heritages. Economically, culture and traditions in ASEAN countries are important factors, contributing to promoting tourism and economic development.”

The Ministers agreed to hold their next meeting in Brunei in 2016 under the theme “Culture for the future sustainable development of ASEAN” and exert combined efforts to realize the set targets, focusing on the Hue Declaration on the role of culture for the sustainable development of the ASEAN Community.