The 16th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) opened on Thursday afternoon with all Asean leaders attending the opening ceremony at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi, Vietnam, except for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The two-day Asean Summit is the first high-level event this year as Vietnam holds the bloc’s presidency. At the opening speech, Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnamese prime minister and chairman of the 16th Asean Summit, said Asean has entered a new stage of development, steadily moving towards the realization of the Asean Community by 2015 and operating on a legal foundation as provided for by the Asean Charter. Three important documents, including the Asean declaration on sustainable recovery and development, the declaration on responses to climate change, and the Asean Chairman’s statement will be adopted during the Summit. Vietnamese Prime Minister Dung also called for executive and legislation joint efforts in each Asean country to implement Asean resolutions and the Asean Charter. Dung made the remarks in a meeting between Asean leaders and Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) representatives. AIPA will work together with Asean to intensify dialogue exchanges and cooperation to help Asean member countries deal with multilateral issues.
Source: Vientiane Times
