The secondment officers at the sixth ASCC meeting, held at Sunway Resort Hotel in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, discussed Malaysia’s priority areas under the Asean chairmanship 2025.
THE Asean chairmanship 2025 logo was officially introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the closing ceremony of the 44th and 45th Asean Summits in Vientiane, Lao PDR on Oct 11, last year. Inspired by Malaysia’s national flower, the hibiscus, the logo symbolises Asean’s rich culture, unity and identity.
Its colours — blue, red, yellow and white — represent the primary colours of all Asean member states’ (AMS) flags. The stigma of the flower pointing to the right symbolises Malaysia’s role as chair, driving Asean forward.
The six core values of Malaysia Madani – sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity and trust, are represented by the six dots at the tip of the flower’s stigma. These values form the foundation of Malaysia’s vision as Asean chair.
The inward-curving five petals surrounding the Asean logo reflect inclusivity, reinforcing Malaysia’s vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Asean region.The hibiscus represents the region’s rich biodiversity, symbolising Asean’s commitment to sustainability.
The circular movement of the petals surrounding the Asean logo illustrates the region’s collective efforts toward long-term sustainability for its people. At the centre, the logo symbolises Asean centrality.
The Asean-Malaysia Chairmanship 2025 is guided by the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, which reflects Malaysia’s aspiration for truly shared progress, ensuring that no one is left behind. It emphasises the belief that Asean is committed to strengthening regional peace, stability and prosperity within an inclusive, sustainable and forward-looking framework.
The theme is also supported by three main pillars: political and security, economic, and socio-cultural.
The socio-cultural pillar comprises 15 sectoral bodies, under the Asean Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), and led by various ministries and departments. > Asean Ministers Responsible for Culture and Arts (AMCA) > Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) > Asean Ministers Meeting on Youth (AMMY) > Asean Education Ministers Meeting (ASED) > Asean Ministerial Meetings on Disaster Management (AMMDM) >Conference of the Parties to the Asean Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (COP – AADMER) > Asean Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD) > Asean Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (AMRDPE) > Asean Ministerial Meeting on Sports (AMMS) > Asean Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) > Asean Labour Ministers Meeting (ALLM) > The Heads of Civil Service Meeting for Asean Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) > Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD) > Asean Ministerial Meeting on Environment (AMME) > Conference of the Parties to the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COP – AATHP)
At the sectoral level, Motac is currently AMCA’s chair (2024-2026). The 11th AMCA was held from Oct 21-26 last year in Melaka with the theme “Bridging Cultures, Building Futures: Unity in Diversity.
The biennial AMCA meeting strengthens regional cooperation in culture and arts among AMS. Supported by the Senior Officials Responsible for Culture and Arts (SOMCA) meetings, it fosters cultural understanding, preservation and collaboration through policies, projects, exchanges and global partnerships.
Held back-to-back with the 11th AMCA was the 20th SOMCA, 11th AMCA with dialogue partners and related meetings. The AMCA flagship event - the Asean Festival of Arts was co-hosted by Melaka.
As of Feb 10, 110 meetings and programmes under the socio-cultural pillar are planned nationwide, involving 14 ministries and agencies, including Health, Communications and Education Ministries.
Malaysia will focus on five key areas during its Asean chairmanship this year: arts and culture; artificial intelligence, digitalisation and green jobs; youth and sports; health, and climate change.
Programmes under Motac
In conjunction with Asean chairmanship 2025, Motac will host 17 events nationwide, including in Sabah and Sarawak: > The sixth ASCC Secondment Officers meeting > Asean Creative Economy Symposium 2025 > Senior Officials Committee for the Asean Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA) retreat > Asean-India Artist Camp > ASCC Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan > 33rd and 34th ASCC council meetings > 38th and 39th Senior Officials’ Committee for ASCC (SOCA) meetings > Asean Korea Music Festival 2025 > International Symposium on the Melaka Declaration on Culture and Heritage Value Creation > ASCC Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan > The seventh ASCC Secondment Officers meeting > Eighth meeting of the Asean Working Group on Culture of Prevention (8th WG on COP) > 21st coordinating conference on the Asean Socio-Cultural Community (21st SOC-COM) > Best of Asean Performing Arts > 21st senior officials’ meeting for Culture and the Arts (SOMCA) and 21st SOMCA +3
The sixth ASCC secondment officers meeting, was held from Jan 9 – 11 at Sunway Resort Hotel, Selangor. It focused on Malaysia’s priority areas under its Asean chairmanship 2025, ASCC’s key priorities, preparations for the meeting on the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan, and arrangements for the upcoming SOCA and ASCC meetings.
