Rokiah Mahmud
Brunei has been selected once again the Chair of ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) for a two-year period, 2023 to 2024. The Sultanate had been the chair of ACCSM in 1991 and 2003.
The handover of the 22nd ACCSM Chairmanship to Brunei Darussalam was held last August during the 21st ACCSM meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Following this, a Preparatory Meeting chaired by Acting Director-General of Public Service Dr Norfarizal bin Othman, in his capacity as the Senior Official ACCSM of Brunei Darussalam was held at Songket Ballroom of The Rizqun International Hotel yesterday.
The meeting, organised in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Public Service Department, the Management Services Department, and the Civil Service Institute, will be followed by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) ACCSM scheduled for today.
As the Chair of the 22nd ACCSM, Brunei Darussalam has set the theme ‘Strengthening ASEAN Public Sector: Fit for the Future’ to support the achievement of five priority areas as outlined in the ACCSM Work Plan 2021-2025 that include Enhancing Workforce Competencies and Standards in Public Sector, Building Institutional Capacities and Interagency Coordination, Transformative Leadership, Strengthening ASEAN Resource Centres (ARCs), Public Sector Reform and Modernisation.
To this end, several programmes and workshops have been planned for the exchange and sharing of the best practices with ASEAN member states as well as the ASEAN Plus Three countries namely China, Japan and Korea.
ACCSM was established in 1981 and serves as one of sectoral bodies under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), which is one of the three pillars under the ASEAN Community. Brunei Darussalam has become full member of ACCSM since 1984.
In addition to its role in strengthening public service cooperation at the ASEAN Level, ACCSM serves as a platform in sharing information, innovations, and best practises related to public service management, including cooperation for capacity-building to narrow the development gap among ASEAN member states.
