ASEAN efforts to secure world peace highlighted

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, participated in the opening ceremony of the 35th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the related summits in Bangkok, in the presence of a number of leaders and senior officials from the ASEAN member states and other international organisations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs hailed the major role played by Thailand as the current chair for the ASEAN 2019 under “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability”. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also underlined the Kingdom’s supporting stance for the ASEAN’s objective and efforts to enhance security and stability in the region, as well as overcome the challenges facing the region.

He also noted the efforts of the member states to advance the ASEAN’s role in finding solutions for several issues and establishing peace and security at the regional and international levels. The 35th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits discussed key issues in Southeast Asia.

The biannual gathering of leaders from all 10 of the grouping’s member states was declared opened by Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan o-cha. Among the meetings that will take place here are the 22nd Asean-China Summit, 16th Asean-India Summit, 14th Asean-East Asia Summit (EAS), 10th Asean-United Nation (UN) Summit, 22nd Asean Plus Three Summit, and the third Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting.

The leaders will then attend the Gala Dinner this evening. This is the second and final summit hosted by Thailand as this year’s ASEAN Chair. ASEAN chairmanship was chosen via a unique rotation system where host country is selected based on the alphabetical order. Next year’s ASEAN summits will be hosted by Vietnam.