The vision of building an integrated ASEAN Community anchored on the three community pillars of political-security, economic and socio-cultural communities remains central amidst the rising tide of geopolitical uncertainty and global risks. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045, adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit in 2025, identifies future megatrends ranging from climate change and natural disasters, health security, ageing societies, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), future of work, and the empowerment of women and youth. These issues transcend national borders and require a concerted effort across the region for responding to these challenges. Out of ASEAN’s three community pillars – the political-security community (APSC), economic community (AEC) and the Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), the ASCC pillar is indispensable in ASEAN’s endeavour to actualise a regional community that is caring, prosperous and inclusive. This requires commitment to deeper regional integration and solidarity to ensure that responses to current threats remain anchored in protecting human security through social protection, poverty reduction, gender and youth inclusion, health security, climate resilience, as well as the strategic use of ASEAN’s soft power through culture, arts and sports.

Priorities of the ASCC 2045 Strategic Plan

Within the ASCC 2045 strategic plan, digitalisation and the changing labour workforce in ASEAN with emerging technologies such as AI have surfaced as a prominent area of growth. Digital upskilling and literacy are recognised as a means to enable ASEAN member states to close the developmental gap for example between rural and urban populations. Access to information, communication and digital technologies is fundamental in the actualisation of a broad array of human rights and social justice. A recent study on the state of digitalisation in Southeast Asia found that within the region, there remains a digital divide between the member states, presenting challenges to economic integration and growth. Regionally, there have been several frameworks that undergird ASEAN’s ambitions in digital integration, including the ASEAN Digital Framework Integration Action Plan and the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement. Beyond advancing equal access to technologies, digital literacy is vital to counter misinformation and disinformation, and a more informed society on the opportunities and risks embedded in the usage of emerging technologies.

ASEAN’s ambition toward reducing the developmental gap is also seen in the ASCC 2045 focus on inclusive development, and the full and equal participation of women in the ASEAN community building processes. The 2025 ASEAN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) summit reaffirmed the region’s commitment to the Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security, placing the agenda as integral to the realisation of ASEAN 2045. The four pillars of WPS – prevention, participation, protection and relief and recovery are embedded in the ASCC strategic plan, with a particular focus on the participation and empowerment of women in the region, and in peace and security. The ASCC 2045 also highlights the need to recognise and reduce the burden of unpaid care work of women and girls.

To address the long-term challenges of climate change and sustainable development, the ASCC 2045 strategic plan envisions the growth of a ‘green ASEAN’, through the strengthening of policies and regional agreements on transboundary environmental issues, such as the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP), and the development of a sustainable green economy, with opportunities for growth in ‘green jobs’ and the low-carbon energy transition. Biodiversity conservation is also an indelible part in the advancement of its sustainability agenda. The ASEAN biodiversity plan endeavours to foster collective action and coordination across the region on the conservation and sustainable use of its biological resources and enhance the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). While biodiversity conservation is mentioned in the ASCC 2045, more attention can be made toward nature-based solutions of the restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity in the region.

ASEAN states also face changing health security and labour concerns, with demographic shifts in most countries in the region, with Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam having the highest share of elderly persons as of 2023. These trends call upon ASEAN member states to adapt healthcare and social support systems, to reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases and the promotion of healthy and active ageing. Through the ASCC 2045, ASEAN is also aiming to strengthen its collective resilience for future health crises, pandemics and health-related impacts from climate change. The One Health Initiative and the established ASEAN One Health Network would expand multilateral efforts to coordinate national and regional implementation, recognising the interconnectedness of the health of the environment, animals, plants and humans.

What’s Next in 2026?

With the Philippines taking on the ASEAN chairmanship in 2026, much is expected in moving the ASCC these strategic thrusts forward. Against the ASCC imperatives, the ongoing conflict in Myanmar and the border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia are issues that the Philippines would have to contend with during its chairmanship. Early statements from the country’s foreign affairs departments have shown that Manila is likely to have a renewed focus on the socio-cultural pillar and press on with the need for ASEAN to maintain regional solidarity, with broad priorities on peace and security, maritime cooperation, climate change and AI governance.