The ASEAN Foreign Ministers (AMM) Retreat took place in Hua Hin town, more than 200km south of Bangkok , on August 13 and 14.

The two-day event focused on the direction of the ASEAN Community beyond 2015 to ensure continued peace, stability and sustainable economic growth in the region.

ASEAN foreign ministers and Secretary-General Le Luong Minh pose for picture

It also included preparations for the upcoming Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers Meeting to be held in Beijing from August 28-30, which will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership.

The ministers also discussed issues relating to ASEAN-China relations and measures to boost their Strategic Partnership, paving the way for the upcoming 16th ASEAN-China Summit in October in Brunei.

Regarding the future direction for ASEAN after 2015, the ministers agreed that it is necessary to speed up the implementation of objectives towards building of an ASEAN Community by 2015, while beginning discussions on a vision for the grouping at the same time, so that ASEAN will maintain its strong and stable development and promote its central role in both regional and global issues in the decades after 2015. They said from now to December 31, 2015, the group should draft a roadmap on building the post-2015 vision for ASEAN.

The top priority until the end of 2015 is to well implement the plan to set up the ASEAN Community, they said, urging member countries to work harder to mobilize all resources for important cooperation programme of the association, such as the master plan on ASEAN connectivity (MPAC), the Work Plan II of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) to narrow the development gap.

The member countries should also expand external relations and make full use of support from partners for the building of the Community, they said.

As for the post-2015 vision for ASEAN, the minister agreed that it should embody a long-term view, while inheriting and multiplying the achievements reached during the building of the Community from 2009 to 2015.

(Source: VNA)