Bangkok (VNA) – The 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting(AMM-52) and related meetings officially opened in Bangkok on July 31 under thechair of Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.
The Vietnamesedelegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham BinhMinh.
In his openingremarks, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that since the ASEANForeign Ministers’ Retreat in January, close cooperation of the ASEAN memberstates has produced positive results. At the 34th ASEAN Summit inBangkok in June, the member states approved the ASEAN Leaders' Vision Statementon "Partnership for Sustainability", and agreed on intensifiedcooperation that benefits the bloc’s people such as inaugurating a satellitewarehouse in Thailand’s Chai Nat province, upgrading the ASEAN Centre ofMilitary Medicine, and issuing the Bangkok Declaration on Combating MarineDebris.
The Thai PM voicedhis hope that at AMM-52, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will review activitiesconducted in the first six months of 2019 and discuss cooperation measures tobe submitted to the next ASEAN Summit in November.
Following the openingceremony, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers attended a plenary session and a retreat sessionto exchange views on emerging issues in building the ASEAN Community, theimplementation plans of the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the ASEANLeaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability, and the negotiationon the Code of Conduct on the East Sea (COC).
Later the same day, the ministers will join the signing ceremony of the Instrument ofAccession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) byPeru, followed by other pending applicants. They will also attend the ASEAN –New Zealand Ministerial Meeting and other bilateral and multilateral events.
The 52nd ASEAN ForeignMinisters’ Meeting and related meetings, which are underway in Bangkok, Thailand, from July 29 to August 3, brings togetherrepresentatives from more than 30 countries, including ASEAN member states,Dialogue Partners, ASEAN Regional Forum Non-Dialogue Partner Members, andGuests of the Chair – Thailand – such as Norway, Peru, Switzerland and Turkey.-VNA
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