On 30 August 2023, the 8th tripartite meeting of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and the Secretariat of Organizing Committee of the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW) was successfully held in Guiyang. H.E. Secretary General Shi Zhongjun of the ACC, Datuk Dr. Habibah binti Abdul Rahim, Director of SEAMEO, Mr. Zou Lianke, Secretary-General of CACEW Secretariat and Director General of Guizhou Department of Education joined the meeting together with their teams. 

SG Shi Zhongjun congratulated on the success of the 2023 CAECW, and briefed the attendees on the focus of the ACC in platform building, information sharing, resource channeling and capacity enhancement in promoting educational cooperation in the region. Director Hadi Tjahjono of the Education, Culture and Tourism Division introduced the ACC’s education flagship programmes and elaborate on future collaboration recommendations including around the annual CAECW. 

Mr. Zou Lianke recalled the previous partnership among the three parties, made an emphasis on introducing the 2023 CAECW and recommended that future focus be put in strengthening digital education, Asian cultural consensus and regional human resources development. Dr. Habibah binti Abdul Rahim shared with the group on the SEAMEO’s priorities on education, science and culture, and proposed for more joint efforts in policy analysis, capacity building and mutual exchange between teaching professionals from ASEAN and China. 

Besides, the three parties had in-depth discussion in renewal of the tripartite agreement, upgrading the scale of collaboration and continuation of the regular meeting mechanism after the pandemic. 

Initiated by the ACC, the tripartite meeting, which has been held for 8 times since 2013, is an important platform and mechanism for enhancing regional education exchange and cooperation with the annual CAECW included.