The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) Retreat in Malaysia on January 28 is a success, contributing to determining the vision and future of the bloc during 2015 when Malaysia is the ASEAN Chair, said ASEAN chief Le Luong Minh.
* Malaysia launches ASEAN ministerial meeting retreat

 
 ASEAN foreign ministers at the meeting.

The event’s outcomes are crucial to not only the formation of the common community this year but also the bloc’s integration process beyond 2015, ASEAN Secretary-General Minh noted.

He shared that the participating ministers supported Malaysia’s proposal to soon design a blueprint of the post-2015 ASEAN Vision as it is expected to be adopted at the 27th ASEAN Summit slated for this November.

The ministers also reached a consensus on putting people in the centre of all action plans and efforts of the group this year, as well as developing small- and medium-sized enterprises as they form the backbone of the regional economy.

To boost intra-ASEAN trade, they took the development of a single time zone for the region into consideration.

Territorial disputes, including those involving the East Sea, terrorism threats, transnational crimes, migrant workers, internal conflicts are faced by the bloc, he said, stressing the need for all ten member nations to maintain a common voice, respect each other and restrain themselves in dealing with tensions.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: VNA