Education Ministers from the Southeast Asian Ministers of EducationOrganisation (SEAMEO) member countries and representatives from regionalorganisations gathered in Pattaya, Thailand on May 7 for the 48thSEAMEO Council Confernce.

At the openingsession, Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan, whowas the President of the SEAMEO Council (2013-2015), highlighted therole of the organisation in boosting regional cooperation in education,science and culture.

This year’s conference,which is also marking the 50 th anniversary of the founding ofSEAMEO, is contributing to realising the commitment of regional leadersto accelerate the formation of an ASEAN Community in 2015, Minister Luansaid.

During the first plenary session, ThaiMinister of Education Narong Pipatanasai was selected to be the newSEAMEO President.

He highlighted 2015 as animportant period for SEAMEO’s goals in sustainable developmentobjectives such as fostering community integration, vocational trainingand applying advanced training programmes.

SEAMEO, a trans-governmental organisation in Southeast Asia, wasestablished in 1965. Its 11 members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

SEAMEOhas 20 regional centres and a network to conduct its research andtraining programmes in different areas including education, science andculture.-VNA