Jakarta, Indonesia – The Philippine Permanent Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, met with the UNESCAP Deputy Executive Secretary (DES) Kaveh Zahedi on 01 March 2017. Discussions focused on substantive preparations for the Interface between the UN and the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), which the Philippines chairs, on 19 April 2017 and also surfaced some important issues that need to be addressed in order to fully realize the benefits of the Plan of Action (POA) to Implement the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the UN 2016-2020.  The POA, which has culled the key elements of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was adopted at the ASEAN-UN Ministerial Meeting (AUMM) in New York in September 2015.  It covers the three (3) major areas of cooperation: Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural, as well as areas of cross-sectoral cooperation.  -END-