Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) on April 8 held preparatory and official meetings of senior officials of the 21st ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) mechanism in the form of video conference under the chair of Deputy Minister Nguyen Duy Thang. 

In his opening address, Thang said the MoHA will assume the rotating chairmanship of the 21st ACCSM for a two-year term.

After taking over from Thailand, MoHA joined hands with the ASEAN Secretariat and civil service agencies in ASEAN member countries to devise working plans and get updated on project activities within the framework of ACCSM for 2021-2025.

As Chair of the 21st ACCSM, Vietnam proposed a theme highlighting civil service modernisation towards a cohesive and responsive ASEAN Community.

Civil service modernisation is viewed as the fifth prioritised sector of the ACCSM Work Plan 2021-2025, while ASEAN is working to accelerate the building of the ASEAN Community as stipulated in the ASEAN Vision 2025. 

In addition, the cohesion and responsiveness of ASEAN members’ civil services are greatly needed amid the global uncertainties.

MoHA will roll out numerous activities over the next two years, including preparatory and official meetings of senior officials (SOM) on ACCSM via video conference, a meeting of heads of civil service agencies in ASEAN, and a workshop sharing experience in IT application in civil service modernisation slated for August.

A conference attended by heads of ACCSM and ACCSM Plus Three and a forum on efficient national management will be held in Hanoi in August 2022.

Thang said the ministry hopes to receive cooperation and support from the ASEAN Secretariat and other ASEAN member states, in order to successfully undertake the chairmanship.

At the meeting, participants were briefed on a proposal on the ASEAN Statement on Acceleration of an Agile Civil Service amid emerging challenges and an estimated timeline for approval by heads of civil service agencies in ASEAN countries./.