ID :
365105
Mon, 04/27/2015 - 08:56
Auther :

Kuala Lumpur Witnesses 26th ASEAN Summit

KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak, who opened the 26th ASEAN Summit Monday morning, pushed for the regional grouping to be more people-centric in the hope that its integration plans will ultimately benefit its 625 million people. It would also be a crucial period as regional economies endeavour to forge integration to create an Asean Community by the end of this year, under Malaysia's chairmanship for 2015. The opening ceremony took place at the Plenary Hall of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) at 9am with all 10 ASEAN Leaders attending the summit, as well as ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh. The leaders were Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Myanmar's President U Thein Sein, Philippines' President Benigno S.Aquino III, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. As Chairman, Malaysia's key focus is to ensure that priority measures and initiatives for the ASEAN Community are in place and the integration process continues progressively beyond 2015. The summit in KLCC would be held in plenary session, followed by a retreat in Langkawi in the evening. During the plenary session which convened at 10 am, the leaders would discuss namely on the establishment of ASEAN Community, progress on the ASEAN Community's Post-2015 Vision and external relations as well as future direction. The issue of South China Sea was also expected at the high-level meeting. Also in the schedule Monday is the signing of agreement for the establishment of a regional secretariat for the implementation of ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals. Later, there will be four ASEAN Leaders' Interface, namely with Representatives of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC), Representatives of ASEAN Youth and Representatives of Civil Society Organisations. Najib is also scheduled to hold a press conference after the plenary session ends. Soon after the press conference ends, all leaders will then depart for Langkawi where the retreat session of the 26th ASEAN Summit will be held. At the retreat, the leaders will discuss topics on ASEAN Centrality, the impact of the financial crisis and economic slowdown on the region and ASEAN's response, climate change and disaster management, as well as exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern. The closing ceremony of the Summit will be held at 7 pm followed by a barbecue dinner hosted by Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. Malaysia assumed the annual rotating chairmanship of ASEAN beginning Jan 1, 2015, from Myanmar. ASEAN was established in 1967 by Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, and was later joined by Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA

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