Agenda Item 5: BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS
9. The Meeting was held in plenary. Except the Agenda Item 12,
“ASFN Collaboration with Partner Organizations”, the Meeting was held in open sessions. A Field Visit to the Community Based Forest Management
in Ratchaburi Province was organized on the second day. Agenda
Item 6:
PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY FRAMEWORK RELATED TO ASEAN
COOPERATION IN FORESTRY
6.1 ASEAN Charter
10. The Meeting took note of the ASEAN Secretariat’s Information
paper on the ASEAN Charter, which appears as ANNEX 5. 11.
The Meeting noted that the ASEAN Charter was signed by the ASEAN Leaders during the 13
th
ASEAN Summit on 20 November 2007 in Singapore, to facilitate the realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Objectives of the Charter are to enhance regional integration by promoting the three main pillars of political-security, economic and socio-cultural
cooperation through sustainable development, strengthened democracy, good governance and enhanced legal personality. The Charter makes
provisions for strengthening the overall ASEAN’s organizational structure in order to facilitate effective implementation of ASEAN decisions and
agreements. 12. The Meeting was informed that ratification of ASEAN Charter is in
progress and to date, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Viet Nam have ratified nationally and the
ratification of the remaining 3 Member States is underway. It is anticipated that the ratification process will be completed by the end of 2008, after
which the ASEAN Charter will come into force.
Action Line: ASEAN Secretariat ASEAN Member States 6.2
Developments towards ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community ASCC 2015
13. The Meeting took note of the ASEAN Secretariat Information Paper
on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community ASCC Blueprint which appears as ANNEX 6.
14.
The Meeting was informed that ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community ASCC is one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community, aiming at
developing the human potential and strengthening the norms of social justice to complement political and security cooperation and economic
integration. In order to realise the ASCC, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers at their Retreat in Singapore on 20 February 2008 tasked the ASEAN
Director-Generals DGs to take the lead in drafting the ASCC Blueprint in consultation with respective sectoral bodies, NGOs and civil societies. The
draft ASCC Blueprint pertaining to forestry sector is covered under element D11 – Promoting Sustainable Forest Management SFM. During
the 11
th
Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry ASOF, the elements and actions line have been considered and agreed. The final
draft of the ASCC Blueprint will be submitted to the ASEAN Standing Committee ASC for subsequent submission to the ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting AMM for further consideration.
Action Line: ASEAN SecretariatASEAN Member States Agenda Item 7:
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE 1
st
ASFN MEETING
15. The Meeting took note of the information provided by Indonesia as
Host Country of the 1
st
ASFN Meeting held on 21 – 24 April 2007 in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. He highlighted the results of the
Meeting among other Term of Reference, Rules of Procedures ROP of the ASFN and Strategic Plan of Action of the ASEAN Cooperation in
Social Forestry 2007-2012. Full text appears as ANNEX 7.
Action Line: ASFN Secretariat Agenda Item 8:
PRESENTATIONS ON THE ASFN COOPERATION 8.1. Presentation by the ASFN Lead Country Indonesia
on the ASFN Secretariat
16. Mr Billy Hindra, Director of Social Forestry Development, the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia informed the Meeting on the development
and operationalization of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network ASFN Secretariat. He highlighted among others the activities to support
operationalization of the ASFN Secretariat, which include assignment of supporting staff to carry out duties and responsibilities of ASFN secretariat
and provide in-kind contribution such as office space to support daily activities of the secretariat. He also mentioned the effort to strengthen
ASFN Secretariat through identification of potential partners such as European Commission, UNDP, RECOFTC etc. Full presentation appears
as ANNEX 8.
Action Line: ASFN SecretariatIndonesia
8.2. Presentation by RECOFTC
