Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office 41 st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 1 | Page Report by the ASEF Acting Executive Director SUN Xiangyang Dear ASEF Governors, I was appointed the Acting Executive Director (AED) of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) at the ExCo Meeting on 4th December 2019. I have the honour to report to you ASEF’s work since last December. Due to the limited time of the online BoG conference, my report has three parts only: the implementation of projects ASEF has done since last ExCo meeting in December 2019; the measures that ASEF is doing to ensure its financial sustainability; and last but not least, the Human Resources situation. 1, Transformation of ASEF Projects in 2020 ASEF had to review its project operations in 2020 and beyond due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the lockdown in most countries has put all upcoming projects and meetings across Asia & Europe on hold, ASEF has been trying to work with the aim of remaining a core facilitator of people-to-people connectivity within ASEM by building a ‘New Modus Operandi’ of transforming its projects, planning new projects, and adding new elements of online or virtual activities to its portfolio. In the past few months, ASEF has worked closely with the ExCo Governors in this regard; we never had so many ExCo meetings at such a short period, and I myself had a lot of phone and mail discussions with the Chair and Vice-Chair. We also regularly have intensive discussions among ASEF staff on how to handle this new situation - we have not been sitting idle. In a way, I would say we have more work to do now to plan the online events and discuss the budget issue. For the sake of the limited time of this online BoG, please allow me not to touch on the detailed information of the projects. I have included the details of the transformed projects in the attached document “ASEF Project Summary 2020”. ASEF has taken note of the indication by some ExCo Governors that the contribution by ASEF Partners will probably be 30% less for 2020, and we have made efforts to revise the transformed and new project budget accordingly. Not all project budgets were revised again, because some projects involve our partner organisations’ external funds to ASEF, such as the Human Rights Seminar, Environment Forum and Public Health Network. We are keeping these projects so we can continue having the external funds, not only for the implementation of the projects, but also for providing staff costs for at least 5 ASEF staff. Thus, it is more conducive to ASEF’s financial situation to do so. After the transformation work, we have done, we believe it will help ASEF to continue to be relevant and bring added value to the ASEM process during this challenging time. But I would like to highlight some of the challenges ASEF continues to face during this transformation process: 1) ASEF needs to expand and invest in e-platforms & technology/software as well as relevant technical/e-soft skills training for its staff to maintain high quality of project delivery. ASEF does this through cross-departmental efforts to pool limited resources & further strengthen the collaborative work culture within the organisation. The
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Report by the ASEF Acting Executive Director SUN Xiangyang
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Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 1 | P a g e
Report by the ASEF Acting Executive
Director SUN Xiangyang
Dear ASEF Governors,
I was appointed the Acting Executive Director (AED) of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) at the
ExCo Meeting on 4th December 2019. I have the honour to report to you ASEF’s work since last
December.
Due to the limited time of the online BoG conference, my report has three parts only: the
implementation of projects ASEF has done since last ExCo meeting in December 2019; the
measures that ASEF is doing to ensure its financial sustainability; and last but not least, the
Human Resources situation.
1, Transformation of ASEF Projects in 2020
ASEF had to review its project operations in 2020 and beyond due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the lockdown in most countries has put all upcoming projects and meetings across
Asia & Europe on hold, ASEF has been trying to work with the aim of remaining a core facilitator
of people-to-people connectivity within ASEM by building a ‘New Modus Operandi’ of
transforming its projects, planning new projects, and adding new elements of online or virtual
activities to its portfolio.
In the past few months, ASEF has worked closely with the ExCo Governors in this regard; we
never had so many ExCo meetings at such a short period, and I myself had a lot of phone and
mail discussions with the Chair and Vice-Chair. We also regularly have intensive discussions
among ASEF staff on how to handle this new situation - we have not been sitting idle. In a way,
I would say we have more work to do now to plan the online events and discuss the budget
issue. For the sake of the limited time of this online BoG, please allow me not to touch on the
detailed information of the projects. I have included the details of the transformed projects in
the attached document “ASEF Project Summary 2020”.
ASEF has taken note of the indication by some ExCo Governors that the contribution by ASEF
Partners will probably be 30% less for 2020, and we have made efforts to revise the
transformed and new project budget accordingly.
Not all project budgets were revised again, because some projects involve our partner
organisations’ external funds to ASEF, such as the Human Rights Seminar, Environment Forum
and Public Health Network. We are keeping these projects so we can continue having the
external funds, not only for the implementation of the projects, but also for providing staff costs
for at least 5 ASEF staff. Thus, it is more conducive to ASEF’s financial situation to do so.
After the transformation work, we have done, we believe it will help ASEF to continue to be
relevant and bring added value to the ASEM process during this challenging time. But I would
like to highlight some of the challenges ASEF continues to face during this transformation
process:
1) ASEF needs to expand and invest in e-platforms & technology/software as well as
relevant technical/e-soft skills training for its staff to maintain high quality of project
delivery. ASEF does this through cross-departmental efforts to pool limited resources &
further strengthen the collaborative work culture within the organisation. The
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 2 | P a g e
Communication Team is leading these efforts through the ASEF Integrated Digital
Ecosystem project.
2) With all organisations focusing on online delivery, significantly more & innovative
efforts in communication & outreach activities are required to build up, stand out and
ensure ASEM’s & ASEF’s visibility throughout the project implementation.
3) ASEF has to spend more time & means to engage participants throughout the
project implementation process. One of ASEF’s most attractive project elements, the
personal & intercultural interactions and networking opportunities for participants, has to
be compensated with new creative approaches.
4) Project design will need to become more adaptive to changing ground realities.
5) Fundraising & finding new partners are challenging amid the current scenario
because face-to-face meetings are not possible & when the financial health of potential
donors/sponsors/partners is also under stress. It is easier to attract partners’ financial or
in-kind contributions for certain types of activities, such as hotel accommodation for
participants, conference facilities, cultural mobility grants. However, owing to the current
scenario, ASEF will not be able to benefit from such possibilities as on-site events & travel
grants are fewer in 2020.
ASEF is fully aware of the above-mentioned challenges; we are discussing the ways to solve it
among the management team, and among the staff. We are also ready to find solutions during
the implementation of the online projects. We also hope all the governors could continue to
support ASEF and give wise guidance to ASEF when we are facing such difficulties.
2, Ensuring ASEF’s financial sustainability is one of my top priorities. In the past several years,
ASEF’s received contributions have been stagnant. SEF is facing financial constraints. Since I
was appointed as acting ED, I have been working on the following measures:
1) Working closely with ASEF Finance Director to ensure spending within the
contributions available. I fully respect the expertise of the Finance Director and follow his
professional advice. We together evaluate the expected contributions from time to time,
and on this basis, allocated the budget to the Programme Departments. When we foresaw
the possibility of less contribution, ASEF already did a round of revising the project budget
as early as in February 2020.
2) Encouraging Programme Departments to proactively apply to Trust Funds, and also
to make the full use of EU Grant. We have also been working closely with MoFA Japan to
deliver the Public Health project, and the Japanese Government is very satisfied with
ASEF’s work and already confirmed the Japanese Government will provide an additional
sum to ASEF for the Japanese Trust Fund. In this challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic,
the additional fund of 5.7 billion Japanese Yen (that’s more than US$ 51 million) from the
Japanese Government will help ASEF to better contribute to the fight against the pandemic.
We would express our heart-felt appreciation to the Japanese Government.
3) Stressing the importance & necessity of attracting external funds. I highlight this
quite often with the management team. This will serve as an indicator for ASEF staff’s
annual appraisals.
4) Adopting more cost cutting measures, such as foregoing the ASEF car and drivers,
cutting overtime meals & transport, and other miscellaneous costs.
5) Initiating a Voluntary Salary Reduction (VSR) measure. To stay viable during this
economic downturn, 14 ASEF directors and managers have stepped up to the call for VSR.
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 3 | P a g e
The VSR is being implemented for 3 months from May to July 2020, saving SGD 33,000
for ASEF. There is no requirement to report this cost-saving measure to the Ministry of
Manpower (MOM) of Singapore for the month of May 2020. We will continue to monitor
MOM’s website for guidance on mandatory notification actions required/not required in
June and July 2020 cost-saving measures implemented by local organisations. It may be
not a big amount to ASEF as an organization, but it is the solidarity spirit and personal
sacrifice by ASEF mid and high-level staff.
6) Proactively using the Resilience Budget package by the Singapore Government. To
encourage firms to retain employees during this period of uncertainty, the Singaporean
government provided a Resilience Budget package consisting of the Jobs Support Scheme
(JSS) and Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) waiver and rebates amongst others. The JSS is
intended to offset and protect the wages of local employees (Singapore citizens and
Permanent residents) for 10 months. ASEF received the first JSS pay outs during April 2020.
ASEF can look forward to more JSS pay outs during May, July and October 2020. ASEF also
received FWL waiver (March and April 2020) and FWL rebates (April and May 2020)
specifically for 3 of our foreign employees who hold Singapore works passes. The total
amount is around SGD 260,000. We would also express our heart-felt appreciation to the
Singaporean Government in this regard.
7) Strictly implementing the ASEF Fiscal Action Plan by not hiring new staff when there
are resignations. This means more staff cost saving, and a step further near the target of
project to staff cost ratio proposed by the ExCo.
I wish to highlight one factor with regard to ASEF’s finance. ASEF is operating its functions based
on its savings from the previous years. Due to the uncertainty of the contributions which ASEF
actually receives for the year, ASEF begins to spend the estimated contributions from the start
of the year. The saving on ASEF cashflow account is enough for ASEF to sustain for a year, but
if the actual contributions greatly reduce, ASEF will face financial trouble at the beginning of the
next year.
By implementing the above-mentioned measures to its utmost efforts, ASEF sincerely expects
Governors would help ASEF to ensure the contributions from their Governments, which is the
political commitment of ASEM Partners.
3, The 3rd part of my report comes to Human Resources:
1) In response to the situation of the COVID-19 and the DORSCON orange level in
Singapore, ASEF has swiftly developed a Guide on ASEF’s Business Continuity Planning
and put in place ASEF’s Precautionary Measures to ensure the safety and health of our
staff. We are closely monitoring the situation and providing regular updates to our staff.
With the escalating COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Singapore Circuit Breaker was
mandated on non-essential services operating in Singapore. 100% of ASEF staff worked
from home from 7 April 2020.
2) 5 HR policies are currently under Management Council review and discussion.
These are: (1) Anti-Harassment, (2) Conflict of Interest, (3) Equal Employment Opportunity,
(4) Grievance and (5) Whistle Blower. It will be decided later this year by the Management
Team.
3) To kick-start the preparation of 2020 KPI setting, trainings for Directors and staff
were already conducted. The 2020 Department goals were finalised and approved in April
2020. ASEF will focus on learning, contributing, adapting during 2020 as well as sourcing
external funding during these challenging times.
4) There are five staff movements during this period (April to June 2020):
Ms. Kaw Jik Hoon, HR Director left on 22 April 2020
A Project Officer from the Culture Department left on 12 May 2020
A Project Officer from Education Department will leave on 30 June 2020
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 4 | P a g e
Effective 21 April 2020:
Mr. Yannick Bineau re-designated as Director for G&E Department
Ms. Grazyna Pulawska appointed as Acting Director of SD&PH Department
Staff strength as on 30 June 2020:
35 salaried staff
3 Secondees
Acting Executive Director, COM Director and G&E Director
4, ASEF has finished the PO/PE Skill Pool Concept Paper and Project Internal Evaluation
Framework. However, we will report the paper and its implementation to the Board in the next
BoG, as this online BoG has limited time.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to your feedback and instruction to ASEF’s work.
I also look forward to welcoming the new Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director to
ASEF.
Annex 1 ASEF Project Summary 2020
Annex 2 ASEF Events Calendar 2020
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 5 | P a g e
Annex 1
ASEF Project Summary 2020
Culture Department
1. ASEF culture 360
Online; 1 January - 31 December 2020
Status: Transformed project
Summary: culture360.ASEF.org is a mobile-friendly website offering the latest news & analysis
on arts, culture & heritage from across ASEM. It reaches over 250,000 online audiences
annually. It is one of 2 fully virtual ASEF projects. culture360 is the only digital cultural
information platform focusing on Asia & Europe. It was set up by ASEF in response to a
recommendation from ASEM Culture Ministers in 2003. culture360 has been acknowledged by
UNESCO & the EU as a good practice for bi-regional cultural co-operation. In the cultural sector,
however, digital projects are the hardest to raise funds for. Hence, innovative fundraising
methods will need to be explored in 2020.
Existing Activities: In 2020, culture360 comprises of 10 key activities. Of these, activities 1 to
5 are ‘business as usual’ activities, namely: 1) Technical maintenance & development of
website; 2) Publication of 400 aggregated content items compiled from across ASEM; 3)
Publication of 20 special commissioned reports (including, on-going series such as Mobility
Funding Guides & Green Guides; new podcast & video interview series); 4) Media partnerships
with unusual arts events; 5) Monthly e-newsletter.
Changes & New Elements: Several new activities have been developed – using the existing
budget or at zero cost - in response to COVID-19 & the need for fundraising, namely: 6) Arts e-
residency via online competition; 7) Special mapping of online cultural content for home viewing
& public support to the arts, both in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic; 8) User survey
on the impact of COVID-19 on the work of cultural professionals & results compiled for the 9th
ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (ASEMCMM9); 9) Enhanced communication & outreach
strategy via social media; 10) Fundraising roadmap. Implementation of some of the new
activities (e.g. 6/Mapping of Online Digital Content & 10/Fundraising Roadmap) have already
commenced.
Original BoG project budget (ASEF share): SGD 125,552
Revised budget (ASEF share): SGD 102,615
2. Mobility First! ASEF Cultural Mobility Initiative
Hybrid project (i.e. several ASEM countries + virtual); 1 January - 31 December 2020
Status: Transformed project
Summary: Mobility First! is ASEF’s cultural mobility initiative, which comprises of a travel grant
for cultural professionals; a resource hub for cultural mobility information; and, knowledge
networks of alumni & mobility funders. Mobility First! is the only travel grant currently available
to artists from all 51 ASEM member countries. Mobility First! has been acknowledged by
UNESCO as a good practice in multilateral cultural co-operation in the ASEM context.
Fundraising for Mobility First! has attracted approx. SGD 100,000 (between 2018 & 2020).
Existing Activities: The 2 travel grant activities will be implemented later in the year, if conditions
permit: namely, 1 travel grant matched funded by partner; and, 1 travel grant fully funded by
the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Changes & New Elements: Given the current global travel restrictions, Mobility First! will focus
more on its role as resource hub & knowledge network in 2020 through the following activities,
which use the existing budget or are zero cost: 1) Project microsite mobilityfirst.ASEF.org; 2)
Virtual event, Cultural Mobility in a Post-Covid World: a conversation with mobility funders in
Asia and Europe; 3) New: Training webinar for artists, How to Make a Better Grant Application:
Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) > Executive Office
41st ASEF Board of Governors’ Meeting (ASEFBoG41), 11-12 June 2020, Online
Report by ASEF Acting Executive Director as of 4 June 2020 6 | P a g e
A Step-by-step Guide; 4) New: Establishing & managing a Mobility Funders Alliance; 5) Annual
report on Asia-Europe cultural mobility trends; 6) New: Mapping: Making Art in the Time of Covid:
A Compilation of Initiatives by Mobility First! Alumni, in response to the current COVID-19
pandemic; 7) New: Alumni survey to gather policy recommendations for a post-Covid arts sector
& results compiled for the 9th ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (ASEMCMM9); 8) Enhanced
communication & alumni relations strategy via social media.
Original BoG project budget (ASEF share): SGD 45,927