Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his entourage left Hanoi on October 23 for Thailand to attend the 15^th ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin and related summits, including the ASEAN Plus One Summit, ASEAN Plus Three Summit and East Asia Summit (EAS) with the participation of leaders from ASEAN member countries, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

On the official theme of “Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples”, PM Dung together with other leaders at the 15^th ASEAN Summit will discuss measures to bring the ASEAN Charter to life, promoting the building of an ASEAN community and cooperation with non-bloc partners. They will also compare notes on regional and international issues of mutual concern such as efforts to cope with the global economic downturn, climate change, natural disasters and epidemics.

Through the event, Vietnam wants to enhance its role and status in the region and the world, especially when Vietnam is preparing for its rotating ASEAN presidency on January 1, 2010.