Under the concept of the Bali Concord II or Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, the ASEAN Community would be supported by three pillars, known as ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) has the primary goal to “Contribute to realizing an ASEAN Community that is people-oriented and socially responsible” in order to achieve “enduring solidarity and unity among the nations and peoples of ASEAN”. To achieve its goal, ASEAN has committed to various frameworks and mechanisms for cooperation in numerous fields including, but not limited to, culture, development, and education.
Despite being the youngest member of ASEAN, Cambodia has received quite substantial support from ASEAN in its socio-cultural area. In this regional grouping, it is undeniable that much diversity has persisted among its member states. What has been a piece of good news for its members, including Cambodia, however, is the fact that ASEAN including the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community has based its activities on respect for sovereignty and differences. According to the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint (2009, p.1), “The ASCC shall respect the different cultures, languages, and religions of the people of ASEAN, emphasize their common values in the spirit of unity in diversity and adapt them to present realities, opportunities, and challenges.” As a country rich in historical and cultural heritages and embedded with its own way of living, the principle of respect for sovereignty and differences have proven useful for Cambodia to gradually integrate with more confidence into the ASCC. Being a member of ASEAN and ASCC, likewise, seems to be quite beneficial to this country in its tourism sector as ASEAN has pushed for visa exemptions among its member states and Cambodia itself has been one popular tourist destination in the region.
Additionally, in order to narrow the development gap and to ensure development in harmony across ASEAN, the regional grouping has been providing some support to Cambodia, which is a part of the CLMV project. As evidenced, ASEAN has passed the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan I (2002-2008) of 232 projects and IAI Work Plan II (2009-2015) of 182 actions to help narrow the development gap by providing special assistance to Cambodia and the other three countries, namely: Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam. While the implementation rate for actions was less than 45% (Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan III, 2016), ASEAN decided to develop a more specific and focused IAI Work Plan III (2016-2020), which implies that as a member of ASEAN, Cambodia would not be left alone. 
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