Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his entourage arrived in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on the afternoon of November 11, beginning his visit to the country to attend the 25th ASEAN Summit and related meetings.

At the airport, he was welcomed by the Myanmar Minister of Rail Transportation, and the Myanmar Ambassador to Vietnam , Vietnam ’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh, and Ambassador and Head of Vietnam’s Permanent Representative Mission to ASEAN Vu Dang Dung.

The 25th ASEAN Summit and related meetings will focus on discussing measures to speed up the implementation of a roadmap on building the ASEAN Community, map out orientations for the community development beyond 2015, and promote unity and the core role of ASEAN in the regional structure.

The leaders are expected to set forth directions to strengthen the relations between the bloc and its partners in the framework of ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, and East-Asia Summit, as well as exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Vietnam ’s participation in the events aims to make positive contributions to the solidarity and unity of the association, promoting its central role in the evolving regional architecture, stepping up efforts toward the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 and mapping out post-2015 orientations for the association.

The country is also expected to contribute its opinions to the region’s other issues of common concern.

Established in 1967, ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprises ten members, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.-VNA