The 11th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) senior officials in charge of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) affairs was concluded in the Peace Palace here on Sunday, exchanging views and taking stock of the progress of ASCC building, according to the press release.

The meeting chaired by H.E. Mr. Sourn Phearith, head of ASEAN Senior Officials' Committee for the ASCC in Cambodia, and attended by relevant senior officials from ten member states and the ASEAN Secretariat, had a wide range of issues on the table, including reviewing the progress of implementation of the ASCC Blueprint, and the preparations for the 7th ASCC Council Meeting to be held on April 2 and the 20th ASEAN Summit on April 3-4, among others.

The ASCC Blueprint was adopted by the ASEAN leaders at the 14th ASEAN Summit in March 2009 in Thailand. The primary goal of ASCC is to contribute to realizing an ASEAN Community that is people- centered and socially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the nations and peoples of ASEAN by forging a common identity and building a caring and sharing society.

The officials also deliberated on the measures undertaken and called for more concrete actions to underpin the Blueprint and promote the establishment of an ASCC, which, along with the ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC) and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), comprise the three pillars of an ASEAN Community envisioned by 2015.

Other topics discussed at the meeting included cultural integration, climate change, educational cooperation, disaster management, women and children. The issues are at different urgency levels for the ASEAN member states, but all are regarded crucial for each group state.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.