The 26th ASEAN Summit Begins

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- The two-day 26th ASEAN Summit begins today with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting being held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman is leading the Malaysian delegation at the meeting which is scheduled to start at 10 am.

All ASEAN Foreign Ministers, namely Datuk Lim Jock Seng (Brunei Darussalam), Hor Namhong, (Cambodia), Retno L.P. Marsudi (Indonesia), Thongloun Sisoulith (Laos), U Wunna Maung Lwin (Myanmar), Albert F del Rosario (the Philippines), K. Shanmugam (Singapore), Tanasak Patimapragorn (Thailand) and Pham Binh Minh (Vietnam) are attending the meeting.

Among the issues expected to be discussed during the meeting will be the ASEAN Community, development of the ASEAN Community's Post-2015 Vision and its Attendant Documents, as well as the progress in drawing up the Code of Conduct (CoC) to address disputes in the South China Sea.

Also in the schedule today, are the 13th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Consultation and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand-Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Senior Officials' Preparatory Meeting for the 9th IMT-GT Summit.

In the afternoon, the 12th ASEAN Political-Security Council Meeting will be held simultaneously with the 13th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting, followed by the 16th ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting (ACC).

Another interesting event taking place today is the 12th ASEAN Leadership Forum at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Meanwhile, today's ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting was preceded by several preparatory meetings including that of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) on Friday as well as the ASEAN Senior Officials Preparatory Meeting (Prep-SOM) and ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Preparatory Meeting (Prep-SEOM).

Tonight, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor will be hosting a gala dinner in honour of ASEAN Heads of States/Government who are in the capital for the summit.

Malaysia assumed the ASEAN chairmanship on Jan 1, taking over from Myanmar.

The 26th ASEAN Summit being held in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi will focus among others on the progress made towards establishing the ASEAN Community by end-2015 and chart the next course of action to propel the regional grouping to greater heights.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA

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