Tagaytay City, Philippines, 1-2 July 2009

The 44th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information (COCI) was held in Tagaytay City, Philippines, from 1 to 3 July 2009. The ASEAN COCI Meeting of the Sub Committee on Culture (SCC) and the Sub Committee on Information (SCI) took place on 1 July 2009 while the plenary meeting was conducted on 1-2 July 2009.

Attended by 78 information and culture officials from ASEAN Member States and staff members of the ASEAN Secretariat, the two-day meeting discussed on-going projects, recommended new project proposals and other project-related issues (i.e. policy, management, cooperation with Dialogue Partners, among others.) Two representatives form from AusHeritage also attended the meeting.

Mr. Nestor O Jardin, President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and chair of the Meeting welcomed the delegates to Tagaytay City, Philippines. He underlined the various mechanisms that ASEAN-COCI may explore to help to achieve the goals set forth in the ASEAN Charter through arts, culture, media and information. These include greater funding participation of the national governments in the implementation of regional programs, enlisting the cooperation of the private sector and exploring more cooperation projects with dialogue partners of ASEAN. For the full speech of Mr. Nestor O Jardin, please click here.

In his Keynote Speech, The Hon. Secretary Conrado A. Limcaoco, Secretary, Philippines Information Agency and Government Information and Mass Media, addressed the significance of the 44th Meeting of ASEAN-COCI as a definitive moment in ASEAN. He noted the recent developments in the region such as the recent landmark decisions of the ASEAN Leaders, the acceleration of the ASEAN Community by 2015, the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter, and the approval of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint. He called upon the Meeting to re-examine the present roles of culture and information so that the ASEAN-COCI can be a key participant in the much desired building of the ASEAN Community and speed up the promotion of the ASEAN Charter. For the full speech of Mr Conrado A. Limcaoco, please click here.

At the opening ceremony, the ASEAN Anthem was played and Radio Television Brunei (RTB) was presented with the 2009 Asiavision Award for best contributions by a member of ASEAN Television News (ATN). For the citation of the 2009 Asiavision Award, please click here.

At the welcome and farewell dinners, the delegates were treated to colourful displays of Philippines’ diverse culture through song and dance. They were also treated to a cultural tour to the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite where Philippine independence was declared on 12 June 1898.

Cultural tour to Aguinaldo shrine

Posted on 6 Jul 2009