PM Dung attends ASEAN Summit in Cambodia

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is leading a Vietnamese delegation to attend the 20th ASEAN Summit and the celebration of the 45th Anniversary of ASEAN, which opened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on April 3.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, said ASEAN leaders will discuss important issues related to stabilizing the region’s financial situation, preventing and dealing with financial and economic crises, accelerating the roadmap of establishing an ASEAN Community in the 2009-2025 period, and building an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

PM Hun Sen, who is also Chairman of the summit, said the ASEAN leaders will put forths solutions for comprehensively connecting ASEAN, preventing natural disasters and dealing with climate change.

He emphasized the bloc’s solidarity, strengths, and its rising voice in the international arena, along with its great contributions to peace, security, and stability in the region and the world as a whole.

ASEAN has also enhanced its internal connections and cooperation with its international partners to improve people’s lives and contribute to the region’s prosperity, he said.

The summit is scheduled to pass important documents, including the Phnom Penh Declaration on “ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny”, the Joint Declaration on a drug-free ASEAN by 2015 and the ASEAN Chair Declaration on ASEAN’s 45th anniversary.

Speaking at the plenary session after the opening ceremony, PM Dung proposed measures to speed up the establishment of the ASEAN Community, strengthen regional connections, narrow the development gap, reinforce solidarity within the bloc, and promote ASEAN’s external relations.

Mr Dung urged ASEAN to boost cooperation in agricultural production to ensure food security and maintain the stance towards issues of common concern in its interface.

The Vietnamese government leader also recommended institutionalizing the bloc’s participation in G20 Summit, realizing the ASEAN road network and the Singapore-Kunming rail route, and strengthening connectivity among ASEAN sea ports.

Later the same day, ASEAN leaders met with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, civil-society organizations, and ASEAN Youth.

** On the same day, Minister, Head of the Government Office Vu Duc Dam met Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.