ASEAN senior officials discuss preparations for Summit hinh anh 1Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (Source: VNA)
Manila (VNA) – ASEAN senior officials convened a meeting in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, to review preparations for the 30th ASEAN Summit slated for April 29.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung attended the event.

Participants looked into the updating process for the ASEAN Charter, the bloc’s external activities, including those pushing for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and the progress of the formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The SOM meeting has completed preparations for ministerial-level meetings and the 30th Summit.

Under the agenda for the 30th ASEAN Summit, leaders are to discuss progresses in the implementation of blueprints on building the ASEAN Community and sign the ASEAN Declaration on the Role of Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the ASEAN Community Vision by 2025.

The Philippines, as ASEAN Chair 2017, will issue a Chairman’s statement of the Summit.

During a meeting of the ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representatives chaired by Philippine Ambassador on April 26, permanent representatives from 10 member states presented suggestions to submit to ASEAN senior officials and foreign ministers, and discussed action plans for 2017, celebrations for the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN, ASEAN’s external relations with foreign partners and organisations, preparations for the 50th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and ministerial-level meetings slated for August in Manila.

They also exchanged ideas on the contents of the draft joint statement and initiatives for the 50th AMM, ministerial-level meetings and the 31st ASEAN Summit scheduled for later this year.

On April 28, ASEAN foreign ministers will attend the 14th meeting of the ASEAN Political-Security Council, the AMM in preparation for the ASEAN Summit and the 18th meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council.-VNA
VNA