ASEAN chief launches ASEC brown bag series

Jakarta (VNA) – Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Surin Pitsuwan, on July 4 launched the inaugural ASEC Brown Bag Series at the ASEN Secretariat in Jakarta.

The ASEC Brown Bag Series is a forum provided by the ASEAN Secretariat to raise awareness of ASEAN’s initiatives among its staff, government officials and the public at large, the secretariat said in a statement.

It also serves as a venue to share ideas and insights on key issues facing the region and generate public interest in the activities of the ASEAN Secretariat in an informal setting, the statement added.

The first in the series on “Climate Change and Deforestation: What Role for the New ASEAN?” was organised in collaboration with the ASEAN-German Regional Forest Programme (ReFOP).

More ASEC Brown Bag Series will be organised in the coming months as the ASEAN Secretariat intensifies its public outreach efforts, the statement said. –