The ministers in charge of foreign, economic, cultural and social affairs of ASEAN re-examined their preparations for the 16 th ASEAN Summit during their meetings in Hanoi on April 7.

At their working dinner chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, ASEAN Foreign Ministers discussed ways to boost regional integration, speed up the building of the ASEAN Community and the implementation of ASEAN Charter, and reinforce the ASEAN’s central role in the region.

Accordingly, they agreed to soon finalise and sign the third protocol revising the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) to pave the way for the European Union to join the treaty.

The foreign ministers hailed Canada ’s new proposal regarding its participation in the TAC and affirmed that they will continue consulting Canada to realise its proposal.

The ministers also said they will carry out necessary procedures to facilitate Turkey ’s joining of the TAC.

Meanwhile, the ministers in charge of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) completed the AEC Council’s report and the ASEAN leaders’ draft statement on recovery and sustainable development for submitting them to the 16 th ASEAN Summit.

They discussed measures to enable the effective implementation of signed agreements on economic cooperation and proposed the AEC’s priorities in 2010.

At the meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council, the ministers reviewed the group’s implementation of the master plan on building the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

They defined the ASCC’s priorities for this year, including developing human resources, enhancing joint response to global challenges, increasing social welfares and promotion for women and children, boosting cultural cooperation, and raising awareness on ASEAN.

The ministers adopted the ASCC’s Communications Plan before attending a debut ceremony for the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children.

ASEAN is comprised of Brunei , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam./.