On September 27, 2016, RADM Wachara Karunyavanij, ONESQA Deputy Director and the President of ASEAN Quality Assurance Network (AQAN) chair the AQAN Executive Committee No 3/2016 at Sokhalay Angkor Resort and Spa Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia. The meeting acknowledged that AQAN is now an entity associated with the ASEAN Secretariat. This will make AQAN known to the ASEAN members and get closer to the goal of ASEAN higher education harmonization. Another important agenda for AQAN members is to prepare for the external review by the international reviewers under the EU-SHARE project based on ASEAN Quality Assurance Framework. This is an initial step toward harmonization of QA in ASEAN.

          On September 28 – 29, 2016 RADM Wachara Karunyavanij, in the capacity of the president of AQAN delivered an opening speech at the 2016 AQAN Seminar and Roundtable Meeting, under the theme “Outcome-Based Education: Issues and Solutions in the ASEAN Context”, joining by Mr. Ekaphong Lauhathiansind, Senior Expert and two Foreign Relations Officers. The opening ceremony was chaired by H.E. Yuok Ngoy, Secretary of State of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and H.E. San Montaya, Secretary General of Accreditation Committee of Cambodia. The seminar included keynote speeches and breakout sessions led by recognized international experts such as Prof. Sr. Ir. Dr. Suhaimi Abdul Talib, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic and Internationalization, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bundit Thipakorn, Deputy Secretary-General, Office of the Higher Education Commission, Thailand.

          In the afternoon of September 29, 2016, RADM Wachara Karunyavanij, President of AQAN chaired the 2016 AQAN Roundtable Meeting, joined by six ASEAN member countries. They were Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The meeting discussed about the expansion of the network toward harmonization and preparation for external review of external quality assurance agencies under EU SHARE project.