40th and 41st ASEAN SUMMITS

Theme: Addressing Challenges Together RIVALRIES BETWEEN MAJOR POWERS

What is ASEAN Summit?
The ASEAN Summit is a biannual meeting held by the members of the
ASEAN to discuss the economic, political, security, and socio-cultural
matters of the Southeast Asian nations. ASEAN Summit is 'the supreme
policy-making body of Southeast Asian nations'.
CHALLENGES AND ISSUES
POST COVID 19 COMPREHENSIVE RECOVERY
- The Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member
States express serious concerns over the outbreak of the
respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) which poses severe challenges to the well-
being of the peoples and the development of our
respective countries and the region and the world
- Competition Between US and China
The two countries remain in dispute over territorial issues
in South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over
virtually the South China Sea and US sees it as inter
natural waters and asserts the rights of warships and
aircraft to conduct operations in the area.
TERRITORIAL DISPUTE
- South China Sea or West Philippine Sea
The President revealed that the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea's that said that the Philippines is the owner
of the West Philippine Sea must be respected.
China strictly prohibits the passage of the South China Sea
without asking to them, which is allowed not only by the
Philippines and ASEAN but also by America and its allies.
Solution:

Solutions. It is encouraged to immediately create a code of conduct

regarding such an issue.
• Advancing Economic’s Empowerment
✓ Development and implementation of COVID-19 economic PQF
recovery plans should be responsive to and inclusive of
women and girls, including women’s leadership and decision- WHAT IS QUALIFICATION?
making roles.
✓ Improving women’s livelihoods including their transition from - a package of competencies describing a particular
the informal to formal sectors; function or job role existing in an economic sector
✓ Strengthen the coordination of national and regional efforts in - covers the work activities required to undertake a
ensuring ASEAN's readiness and responsive measures to particular job role
mitigate and subsequently eliminate the threats of the COVID
19. WHAT IS PQF?
✓ Strengthen cooperation to ensure that the people are rightly
and thoroughly informed on the COVID-19 situation and are - A national policy which describes the levels of
not being misled by disinformation pertaining to the COVID- educational qualifications and sets the standards for
19. qualifications outcomes.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PQR:

• Strengthening Energy Cooperation
- Serious concern the surge and volatility of energy prices
- Adopt national standards and levels for outcomes of
and the disruption of supply chains, due to the adverse
education;
impacts of ongoing and other military conflicts, amidst
- Support the development and maintenance of
geopolitical challenges, along with the unprecedented
pathways and equivalencies which provide access to
impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
qualifications and assist people to move easily and
pandemic on the global economy, on energy security,
readily between the different education and training
and the well-being and livelihoods of our people.
sectors and between these sectors and the labor
• Promoting Volunteerism for Sustainable Development
market;
- Volunteerism can be a powerful and cross-cutting
- Align the PQF with international qualifications framework
means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
to support the national and international mobility of
Sustainable Development. We also recognised the
workers through increased recognition of the value and
importance of volunteerism in addressing the impacts of
comparability of Philippine qualifications
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on
people’s lives, livelihood and well-being, particularly in
supporting national responses and recovery, and
advocating regional partnerships.

THREATS OF GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

- The global food crisis is causing widespread hunger
and poverty and requires an urgent, collective response.

Solutions:

• Strengthened Initiatives and expanded project under

ASEAN ministers of Agriculture and Forestry.
• Solidify food resilience, promote food self sufficiency,
through the use of self sufficiency.

CLIMATE CHANGE
- Climate change describes a change in the average
conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a
region over a long period of time.

Solutions:

- Shifting our paradigm, from the old, traditional farm

method or climate smart agricultural systems to better as
against the ongoing adverse effects of climate change.
 SCOPE OF AQRF

As a regional common qualifications reference framework, the AQRF is

an enabling tool to allow comparisons of qualifications among AMS. The
AQRF is an eight-level regional qualifications reference framework that
aims to address all education and training sectors, from basic to the most
advanced skill-level. To support life-long learning, the AQRF goes beyond
formal learning2 to cover informal and non-formal learning.

THE ROLE OF AQRF IN BUILDING THE ASEAN COMMUNITY

The AQRF aimed to support ASEAN Community building and specifically

through the process to achieve the following goals:

✓ free flow of skilled labour (through harmonisation and

standardisation) within the region, as indicated in the ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC) 2015 Blueprint; and
Benefits of the PQR: ✓ ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) 2015 Blueprint
which seeks “to establish national skills frameworks as an
I. TO THE PERSON incremental approach towards an ASEAN skills recognition
framework”.
- Encourages lifelong learning to allow individuals to start at the level
that suits them and then build-up their qualifications as their needs The AQRF acts as a communication platform to explain qualifications
and interests develop and change over time systems of AMS, which enhances the mutual support between the
- Provides access to certificates and licenses recognized by national qualifications systems in ASEAN and the Quality Assurance
government Framework. The AQRF has the ability to empower workers and students
to facilitate their mobility within ASEAN and beyond.
II. FOR THE EMPLOYERS

- Assures that standards and qualifications are consistent to job

requirements/demand
- Provides common understanding on standards, qualifications and
levels

III. FOR THE E & T PROVIDERS

- Ensures transparency in training provision, conformance to standards

and preciseness of accountability for learning outcomes
- Provides common understanding of policies and guidelines on credit
transfers, articulation, portability, bridges pathways and RPL

III. FOR THE AUTHORITIES

- Provides the standards, taxonomy and typology of qualifications as

bases for granting approvals to providers and stakeholders
- Harmonizes qualifications in E & T across Philippines

AQF

ASEAN QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK ( AQRF)

- The ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) is a common

reference framework that enables comparisons of education
qualifications across participating ASEAN Member States (AMS).
- The AQRF addresses education, training sectors and the wider
objective of lifelong learning.

OBJECTIVES OF THE AQRF:

• Support recognition of qualifications.

• Encourage the development of qualifications frameworks
that can facilitate lifelong learning.
• Encourage the development of national approaches to
validating learning gained outside formal education.
• Promote and encourage education and learner mobility
• Support worker mobility.
• Improve understanding of qualifications systems.
• Promote higher quality qualifications systems.