Page 21 - AEI Insights Vol. 7 2021

Munusamy and Hashim, 2021

the qualitative findings and discussion. Finally, the article presents the conclusion and
implication of the study.

The ASEM education and internationalisation

The creation of ASEM brings a new status to Asia and it shows the recognition of the
importance of Asia by Europe (Yeo, 1997). Since the Fourth ASEM Summit (ASEM4), ASEM
has started to emphasise the importance of people-to-people contacts and education (Le Thu,
2014). Subsequently, in the Sixth ASEM Summit (ASEM6), ASEM Leaders endorsed a
separate ministerial meeting for education (ASEM, 2006). After the first official ministerial
meeting on education in 2008, the focus of the AEP was on four thematic priority areas, namely
(1) quality assurance and recognition, (2) engaging business and industries in education, (3)
balanced mobility and (4) technical and vocational education and training, including lifelong
learning (ASEMME3, 2011). The four priorities reflect the common interests of Asia and
Europe and are a fixed agenda for senior officials and ministers level meetings. A two pillar
system (dialogue and results-oriented initiatives) was endorsed in the fifth ministerial meeting
(ASEMME5). This system has increased the visibility of tangible outcomes for the success of
higher education in Asia and Europe and for sustainability in the globalised world (AES, 2015).
The Conclusions by the Chair is a key ASEM education policy document containing “the
ministers’ political viewpoints, the common goals, major achievements, new initiatives, and
activities” (Dang, 2018a, p. 262). It is a high-level document and adopted as a policy document
for the implementation of various endorsed initiatives under the framework of the AEP.
ASEMME1 set a pathway for the formation of initiatives under the AEP and encouraged
ASEM partners to build a strong partnership to internationalise higher education in order to
st
meet the 21 -century challenges (ASEMME1, 2008). As of December 2019, more than fifty
initiatives and projects and more than 120 working and expert group meetings at stakeholders’
level have been held within Asia and Europe (AES, 2019).
st
As of 1 January 2020, seven ministerial meetings at the political level were held to shape
higher education development in both regions. Although all the meetings emphasised the
importance of the four priorities, digitalisation and sustainable development goals were
included as two transversal themes to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
(ASEMME7, 2019). The uniqueness of the AEP is the creation of a special rotation secretariat
in 2009 to manage higher education collaboration between Asia and Europe (Gaens, 2018). So
far, three nations (Germany, Indonesia and Belgium) have hosted the secretariat and the
following term should be hosted by an Asian partner (ASEMME7, 2019). The secretariat has
to effectively manage and coordinate the networking between ASEM partners and hosting of
the political and stakeholders level meetings.

Currently, 53 ASEM partners and more than fifteen International organisations such as the
ASEAN University Network (AUN) and the International Association of Universities (IAU)
actively discuss, share best practices and identify reform measures through political and
stakeholders level meetings (Nagarajan & Tozsa, 2018). Thus, the rationales of the AEP are to
enhance the transparency of different higher education systems and make them more
compatible. The AEP’s key objective is ensuring the quality and competitiveness of higher
education systems and institutions to produce qualified and employable citizens and promoting
economic growth in Asia and Europe (AES, 2013). The high priority of the AEP is to bridge
the gap between diverse higher education systems through an informal political process of
inter-regional cooperation which is supported and implemented by a series of initiatives and

21