On September 7, 2021, the 9th ASEAN+3 Village Leaders Exchange Programme, co-hosted by the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) and the ASEAN-China Centre, supported by the ASEAN Secretariat was successfully held in the form of a video conference. The theme of this year’ s Programme is “Eliminating Absolute Poverty and Promoting Rural Revitalization”. It aims at building the capacity of village leaders through mutual learning on successful cases and useful practices in promoting poverty reduction and development in rural and urban communities, to further enhance the rural development in ASEAN+3 countries. The programme hope to contribute to the eradication of absolute poverty, the promotion of rural revitalization, and the development of urban-rural integration. 

Nearly 50 officials and grassroots representatives from relevant departments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and China, the embassies to China, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and experts, scholars, and media representatives attended the event. Ms. Li Xin, Deputy Director-General of IPRCC, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Ms. Maha Ahmed, Deputy Country Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in China, moderated a presentation session, and Mr. Miguel Musngi, Senior Officer, Poverty Eradication and Gender Division of the ASEAN Secretariat, delivered the closing remarks. Participants agreed that under the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of great significance to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and to share experiences in the field of poverty reduction and rural development through this event.

"The ASEAN+3 Village Leaders Exchange Programme" is the first regional poverty reduction exchange activity for the grassroots organized by IPRCC. It targets the leaders and promoters of rural community development - village officials, and expands the sharing of poverty reduction knowledge to grassroots village officials. The programme has been promoting the development of rural communities in ASEAN countries and China, Japan and ROK, through capacity building of village leaders in the region. Since 2013, the programme has been successfully held for eight series in China and Malaysia , and has been fully recognized by all parties.