Page 47 - EU_ASEN Relations: Perspectives From Malaysia

(ECTS); the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG);

the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)
and so on. Tools such as the ECTS user guide, Diploma Supplement,

Transcript of Records, Erasmus+ Programme Guide and others are key to intra-
and international mobility.

Following the main action lines of EHEA, Erasmus+ programmes and the
Europe 2020 Strategy for education development, all subsequent Ministerial

meetings have also included relevant strategies for the external dimension of

the Bologna Process (Pol, 2017; European Commission, 2017a). This includes
more internationalisation of EHEA with the world to address global

challenges. Hence, the European Commission is pursuing a global approach
for interregional higher education exchange for and beyond 2020. With a

renewed engagement outlook between the EU and ASEAN, and with both
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parties celebrating their 40 anniversary in 2017 since the establishment of
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formal cooperation and dialogue at the 10 Ministerial meeting in 1977 in
Brussels, all existing and future ASEAN-EU cooperation in higher education
will bring forth closer ties for mobility and cross-fertilisation of knowledge

between both regions (European Commission, 2017b). The ultimate aim of this

synergy would be a sustainable increase in human calibre and greater people-
to-people connectivity for socio-economic prosperity that leverages on

comparable and/or harmonised education systems.

Higher education developments in ASEAN

While the ASEAN integrative model of intergovernmental organisation may

resemble somewhat the EU supranational organisation in some respects, the
region has shown significant progress in higher education developments that

are in tandem with the Bologna Process. The aspirations for a higher education

area in ASEAN vis-à-vis EHEA underpin the principles of higher education as

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