Senior ASEAN officials reached several agreements on boosting the linkages among bloc members at a series of meetings, which wrapped up in Ho Chi Minh City on Mar. 3.

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), the ASEAN Senior Economics Officials Meeting (SEOM), the meeting of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio- Cultural Community (SOCA), and the Joint Preparatory Meeting (JPM), the officials approved a draft programme and the agenda and lists of documents to be submitted to ASEAN ministers at the 16th ASEAN Summit, which will be held in Hanoi from April 8-9.

They also reviewed cooperation in the building the ASEAN Community of the three major pillars of political security, economy and culture

Assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister and Head of Vietnam’s ASEAN SOM Pham Quang Vinh reported that the ASEAN senior officials also discussed the organisation’s capacity in facing global challenges, including economic recovery, sustainable development and climate change.

Vietnam ’s proposals on the agenda and operations as well as documents to be submitted to ASEAN leaders at the 16th ASEAN Summit were approved by other ASEAN members.

Vinh also informed ASEAN members that Vietnam is ready for the upcoming summit and has reached agreements with other members on the organisation of additional activities in Vietnam in 2010, a year during which Vietnam holds the rotating ASEAN Chairmanship./.