Opening of the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting
On the morning of July 9, the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) officially opened at the Peace Palace, Phnom...
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered an opening speech affirming that maintaining regional peace and security is an indispensable condition for the prosperity and development of all ASEAN countries.
Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that after 45 years of establishment, ASEAN has become a closely integrated political and economic entity, an influential member of Asia and an irreplaceable strategic partner of major countries and organizations in the world.
ASEAN’s great achievements are the result of the strong commitment and political will of its member countries to work closely together in the spirit of unity and solidarity, friendship and cooperation. This spirit is further affirmed by the theme chosen by the host country Cambodia for its 2012 chairmanship: “ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny.”
However, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen, besides the great achievements, ASEAN continues to face global and regional challenges. These include difficulties in major economies, the prolonged debt crisis in Europe, food and energy security, climate change, natural disasters, terrorism and transnational crime, etc.
All these challenges pose significant threats to the sustainable socio-economic development that ASEAN has achieved over the past 45 years and efforts towards building the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen emphasized that ASEAN Foreign Ministers play an extremely important coordinating role in building the ASEAN community, especially in resolving issues related to security-political cooperation and relations between ASEAN and the outside world.
In that spirit, Prime Minister Hun Sen called on ASEAN Foreign Ministers to prioritize the goal of realizing the ASEAN Community by 2015; and continue efforts to turn the ASEAN Charter into reality.
In particular, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that maintaining regional peace and security is an indispensable condition for the prosperity and development of ASEAN as a whole. ASEAN needs to continue to demonstrate its capacity and role as a driving force for dialogue and cooperation in security and political issues, for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
ASEAN needs to promote the effectiveness of current tools and mechanisms to ensure regional security and peace such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+)...
“The accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation by 18 non-ASEAN member states, together with the United Kingdom and the European Union this year, will further reinforce the importance of the Treaty and its principles,” said Prime Minister Hun Sen. “In addition, we need to prioritize the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), including moving towards the conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).”
After the opening session, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers began the plenary session. It is expected that the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will discuss a number of issues such as promoting the building of the ASEAN community in 2015; Dialogue between ASEAN and China on the development of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea COC; Cooperation between ASEAN and its partners within the framework of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone; and the direction of ASEAN development cooperation until 2015 - an ASEAN without drugs./.
According to (vietnamplus.vn)-LT
