Permanent Secretary of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs Busaya Mathelin will chair the meetings, namely the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), the Joint Consultative Meeting, the ASEAN SOM Plus Three, the East Asia Summit SOM, and the 7th meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council’s Working Group on Timor Leste’s ASEAN membership application.
    |
 |
|
ASEAN senior officials in a joint photo at the meeting in Bangkok on May 2 |
The meetings aim to prepare for the ASEAN Summit, the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting Post-Ministerial Conferences, which are scheduled to take place in Bangkok in late June and late July.
Participants are set to discuss cooperation in the building of the ASEAN Community, especially advancing partnership for sustainability – the priority issue of Thailand’s ASEAN chairmanship this year.
They will also look into measures to enhance the bloc’s relations with partners and exchange views on important international and regional matters.
This time’s ASEAN SOM and related meetings show Thailand’s role in promoting peace and cooperation in the region to realize security, sustainable development and economic growth targets, as well as to achieve sustainable social security, thus helping to build a future-oriented and people-centered ASEAN Community where no one is left behind.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
Source: VNA