PRESS RELEASES

The 2nd ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting (APT EMM) and the 2nd East Asia Summit Education Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM)

19 September 2014

ASEAN+3 Education Minister Meeting

ASEAN+3 Education Minister Meeting

EAS Education Minister Meeting

    The 2nd ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting (APT EMM) was held on 12 September, 2014, in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Japanese delegation was headed by H.E. Mr. Hakubun SHIMOMURA, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and other delegation members including Mr. Shigeharu KATO, Director-General for International Affairs of MEXT and officials from the MEXT and the Mission of Japan to ASEAN. From the ASEAN side, H.E. Dr. Phankham Vihavanh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Sports of Lao PDR, was the Chair of ASEAN+3, and other ASEAN Education Ministers as well as other officials from relevant ministries, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN University Network (AUN) Secretariat and the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat attended the meeting. China and Republic of Korea also attended the meeting at ministerial level.

    In the meeting, the Ministers discussed the progress of the “Working Group on Mobility of Higher Education and Ensuring Quality Assurance of Higher Education among ASEAN Plus Three Countries” established under Japan’s initiative and the “ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education (2010-2017)”. Mr. Shimomura explained Japan’s contribution to the WG and other Japan’s initiatives to support Japanese universities’ educational collaboration with universities in the ASEAN+3 countries. Mr. Shimomura also announced that the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) would be held in November 2014 in Japan and invited all the Ministers to participate in the conference. The ASEAN Ministers expressed their appreciation for Japan’s contribution in the education field.

    The 2nd East Asia Summit Education Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM) was held after the APT EMM and all the Ministers exchanged views on 15 collaborative projects under the “EAS Education Plan of Action 2011–2015” and future direction of cooperation on education among EAS participating countries.

    The 3rd APT EMM and the 3rd EAS EMM will be held in Malaysia in 2016.