ASEAN Foundation Taps Vero to Amplify AI Literacy Across Southeast Asia
JAKARTA, 15 AUGUST 2025 – The ASEAN Foundation has appointed communications consultancy Vero to lead regional media engagement for its AI Ready ASEAN program, a major initiative aimed at boosting AI literacy across Southeast Asia.
AI Ready ASEAN, a 2.5-year program supported by a USD 5 million grant from Google.org launched in 2024, is structured in five core phases—training of trainers, in-depth AI training, a regional awareness campaign, national and regional convenings, and research on AI across ASEAN. Implementation is already underway, with the launch of an e-learning platform serving as a key step toward making AI literacy more accessible and sustainable.
The program aims to reach at least 5.5 million people in the region, engaging youth, educators, parents, and underserved communities, with 800,000 participants benefiting from more in-depth training.
As ASEAN Foundation’s PR partner, Vero’s scope focuses on media engagement activities, including developing communication strategies and assets that will strengthen the program’s visibility and reach across the region.
“With AI technology evolving fast and transforming the world in unprecedented ways, AI literacy and equitable adoption have become essential to ensuring that everyone can participate in and benefit from this innovation,” said Diah Andrini Dewi, Executive Account Director at Vero. “We are honored to support ASEAN Foundation’s mission in building an empowered society through inclusive learning and to help amplify the reach and impact of AI Ready ASEAN.”
Building on this commitment, Vero has already led media engagement for the program’s first convention in February, securing earned coverage from top-tier publications across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
AI Ready ASEAN promotes responsible AI use, emphasizing principles of ethics, fairness, transparency, and digital inclusion. Implementation will be carried out in close partnership with local organizations across ten member states, ensuring that training and learning materials are contextually relevant, culturally sensitive, and accessible to all.
The program supports the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, with the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement serving as a guiding framework to achieve the objectives and strengthenthe region’s capacity to harness AI for sustainable development.
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ABOUT ASEAN FOUNDATION
Three decades after ASEAN was established, ASEAN leaders recognized that: there remained inadequate shared prosperity, ASEAN awareness and contact among the people of ASEAN. It was of this concern that ASEAN leaders established the ASEAN Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia, at ASEAN’s 30th Anniversary Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 15 December 1997.
The ASEAN Foundation is an organization from and for the people of ASEAN. The Foundation exists because of one vision: to build a cohesive and prosperous ASEAN Community. As an ASEAN body, the Foundation is tasked to support ASEAN mainly in promoting awareness, identity, interaction, and development of the people of ASEAN.
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ABOUT VERO
Vero is an award-winning strategic communications consultancy, advising some of Southeast Asia’s leading brands, corporations, and non-profit organizations.
B Corp certified across all its offices, and a signatory of the Clean Creative pledge since 2022, Vero adopts a forward-thinking approach to public relations and marketing, striving to enact meaningful change for clients and society at large.
Vero’s team of over 250 PR, social, digital, influence, creative, events, and government relations consultants in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and its partnership in Myanmar, brings unique perspectives to earned media, prioritizing digital technology, creative storytelling, and stakeholder engagement in championing stories of progress. This includes the newest units: Vero IQ, which digs deep for data-driven insights, VeroXperience, dedicated to redefining brand events in the region, and Vero Advocacy, a government engagement-focused strategic advisory.
Listed among the Global Top 250 Agency Ranking by PRovoke Media in 2023 and winner of numerous Southeast Asia Consultancy of the Year awards, Vero designs integrated marketing and communications strategies that resonate within and across this vibrant region’s digital ecosystems and fast-growing economies.
