The online portal will consolidate digital archives of cultural heritage including artefacts, old documents and paintings. The project will also supplement the existing digital archives of ASEAN member states as it will digitize cultural heritage objects. The first phase of this project has been completed, with a digital archive created of 160 cultural assets from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. The archive has images, audio recordings, and video data as well as an expanded capability to handle three-dimensional models of physical objects.

The La Galigo script, an epic written in the 14th century, is one of the digitized documents from Indonesia. The script was inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World registry in 2011.

The website also gives a glimpse of a Mak Yong performance from Malaysia, a traditional dramatic dance cum ritual. Meanwhile, Thailand presents a collection of gilded manuscript cabinets, which viewers can look at the intricately crafted stories involving mythical creatures in greater detail.

Deputy-Secretary General of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Kung Phoak said that project is an important step in ASEAN’s pursuit towards enhancing the public’s understanding and appreciation of the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the region.

The second phase of the project, supposed to begin from fiscal 2020, will be to digitally archive cultural assets from Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos, and make them available on the archive site. The project will be expanded to include all 10 ASEAN member states in the future.