18th Meeting of HLTF-ACV: Myanmar delegation attends the meeting in Singapore

The 18th Meeting of High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision (17th HLTF-ACV) was held in Singapore from 19 to 23 November.

A Myanmar Delegation led by Dr. Wah Wah Maung, Emi­nent Person (EP) of Myanmar for the HLTF-ACV and Deputy Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations attended the meeting. Drafting sessions of the High-Level Representatives were also held on the sideline of the Meeting, and concluded the fourth reading with 97.2 percentage of completion of the draft ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC) Strategic Plan.

At the 18th HLTF-ACV Meeting, the HLTF-ACV had an interface with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, and Singapore Institute of International Affairs. The respective stakeholders have offered comments and recommendations to the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. The Meeting exchanged views, shared their insights on the emerging challenges and way forward on the development of the Strategic Plans.

The Deputy Minister commended the progress of works in developing Strategic Plans for ASEAN Vision 2045 and emphasized the importance of advancing regional integration through strengthening efficiency and effectiveness of institutional mechanisms and improving cross-pillar and cross-sector coordination. She also highlighted the importance of prioritization and sequencing ASEAN’s work plans. Given unique nature of ASEAN, she suggested for greater efforts for financial independence of the community in order to better exercise “ASEAN centrality”. She underscored that youth participation remains a priority for the implementation of ASEAN Vision 2045.

The Deputy Minister concluded by calling for constructive engagement, greater inclusivity and equal representation in ASEAN meetings. The upcoming 19th HLTF-ACV meeting scheduled in December will look into further developing the Strategic Plans for their adoption at the 46th ASEAN Summit in May 2025.