The ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS) will take place in Hanoi from October 26-28 on the them of “Toward ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action”.

The event is expected to draw between 800 and 1000 delegates, including government officials, policy makers, economists, business leaders, from ASEAN countries and others around the world.

ASEAN-BIS is an activity on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit and will be organised by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), ASEAN-BAC Chairman Doan Duy Khuong said at a press briefing in Hanoi on September 27.

The event aims to build ASEAN into an open, dynamic and prosperous community and is a dialogue forum for the public and private sectors to propose measures on facilitating and promoting ASEAN economic initiatives, he added.

Within the ASEAN-BIS framework, a series of dialogues with the region’s strategic partners, such as Australia , New Zealand , China , India , Japan , the Republic of Korea and Russia , will be held for the first time under Vietnam ’s initiative.

The dialogues mark an important period in the process of maintaining and promoting long-term, sustainable cooperation between ASEAN and the strategic partners, Khuong said.

In addition, the summit will hold the 2010 ASEAN Business Award to honour businesses making contributions to the region’s economic development.

Launching in Bali , Indonesia , in 2003, the annual ASEAN-BIS has become one of the most prestigious and effective forum in the region and a venue for sharing useful information for regional and international enterprises./.