Vietnam Chairs SEAMEO Executive Committee Meeting 2014

As Chair, Associate Professor Dr Pham Quang Hung, Acting Director General of International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam led the five-country supervisory committee with members from Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Thailand. During the meeting, Associate Professor Dr Pham Quang Hung urged the Executive Committee to keep the momentum high in playing the intermediary, advisory and moderating roles of the Committee in providing advice on the overall thrusts and efforts of the SEAMEO Units.

Among others, agenda of the SEAMEO Executive Committee Meeting 2014 included updating on the arrangements for the forthcoming Strategic Dialogue for Education Ministers and the SEAMEO Congress which were both set to take place in September 2014, and the 50th SEAMEO Anniversary celebration which would start in November 2014. Moreover, the SEAMEO Secretariat presented reports on the SEAMEO Regional Study on Post-2015 Education Agenda and Scenarios, and the performance evaluation of the SEAMEO Secretariat for fiscal year 2013-2014. Advice provided by the SEAMEO Executive Committee on these matters would guide the SEAMEO Secretariat on subsequent actions to take as well as in the preparation for the 37th SEAMEO High Officials Meeting in November 2014.

The SEAMEO Executive Committee serves a two-year term, and chairmanship rotates consistent with the High Officials Meeting chairmanship which is also based on the two-year SEAMEO Council presidency. The chairmanship and composition of the Committee will change in the next meeting in 2015.

Meetings of the SEAMEO Executive Committee are held annually. Primarily, the Committee provides guidance and recommendations on the management of the SEAMEO Secretariat and overall development of the SEAMEO Centres. In extra-ordinary situations, the Committee may be convened more than once a year to tackle pressing matters.

Chair and members of the SEAMEO Executive Committee in a group photo with other members of country delegations and the SEAMEO Secretariat.

Seated from left include high officials from five SEAMEO Member Countries including
Ms Chanthavone Phandamnong, Director General, Department of External Relations, Ministry of Education and Sports, Lao PDR;
Dr Junaidi Abd Rahman, Permanent Secretary (Core Education), Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam;
Associate Professor Dr Pham Quang Hung, Acting Director General of International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam;
Dr Witaya Jeradechakul, Director, SEAMEO Secretariat,
Ms Churairat Sangboonnum, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Thailand;
and Dato ™ Wan Khazanah Ismail, Deputy Secretary General (Management), Ministry of Education, Malaysia.

Standing are other members of the country delegations, and members of the SEAMEO Secretariat.