The 52^nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-52) and related meetings officially opened in Bangkok on 31 July under the chair of Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha speaks at the opening ceremony of the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (Source: VNA)

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

In his opening remarks, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that since the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in January, close cooperation of the ASEAN member states has produced positive results. At the 34^th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok in June, the member states approved the ASEAN Leaders' Vision Statement on "Partnership for Sustainability", and agreed on intensified cooperation that benefits the bloc’s people such as inaugurating a satellite warehouse in Thailand’s Chai Nat province, upgrading the ASEAN Centre of Military Medicine, and issuing the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris.

The Thai PM voiced his hope that at AMM-52, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will review activities conducted in the first six months of 2019 and discuss cooperation measures to be submitted to the next ASEAN Summit in November.

Following the opening ceremony, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers attended a plenary session and a retreat session to exchange views on emerging issues in building the ASEAN Community, the implementation plans of the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the ASEAN Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability, and the negotiation on the Code of Conduct on the East Sea (COC).

Later the same day, the ministers will join the signing ceremony of the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) by Peru, followed by other pending applicants. They will also attend the ASEAN – New Zealand Ministerial Meeting and other bilateral and multilateral events.

The 52^nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings, which are underway in Bangkok, Thailand, from 29 July to 3 August, brings together representatives from more than 30 countries, including ASEAN member states, Dialogue Partners, ASEAN Regional Forum Non-Dialogue Partner Members, and Guests of the Chair – Thailand – such as Norway, Peru, Switzerland and Turkey.

(Source: VNA)