NDO/VNA – The Ministry of Home Affairs held a training workshop via video teleconference on October 29 morning for ASEAN member states to share practices in civil service reforms and capacity building for local civil servants in 2021.

It was the third of its kinds held in accordance with the ministry’s Action Plan to implement the “ASEAN Declaration on the Role of Civil Service as A Catalyst for Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025.”

The operation of civil service agencies has been badly affected by restrictions induced by COVID-19, said ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Ekkaphab Phanthavong.

Against such backdrop, ASEAN member states have remained committed to deliver high-quality civil services to their citizens, he said, adding that challenges in the delivery of civil services in the “new normal” are a wakeup call for the member states to further accelerate reforms and modernization in the field.

At the event, participants received updates of ASEAN’s cultural-social affairs and cooperation frameworks within the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, as well as plans for the implementation of the Socio-Cultural Community’s goals and related goals by 2025, along with integrated activities for the civil service agencies in the coming time.

In her speech, Ha Thi Minh Duc, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of International Cooperation, said to effectively beef up ASEAN cooperation, it is crucial to heighten political commitments and awareness of ASEAN and develop the greater sense of belonging as a community.

She also called for better efforts in raising people’s awareness of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community goals.