Vientiane (VNA) – Preparations and agenda for the 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings have been completed, with focus 𓄧on mapping out orientations for the growth of ASEAN cooperation with partners in the framework of ASEAN💞+3 and East Asia Summit (EAS).

These are among outcomes of the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) with China, the Republic of Korea and Japan, and SOM with eight dialogue partners joining the EAS, namely China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand, which took place in Vientiane, Laos on July 23. The senior officials recommended a number of focuses and priorities in ASEAN+3 and EAS cooperation, including the strengthening of affiliation in non-traditional security, the expansion of the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve, and the implementation of suggestions by the East Asia Vision Group II. They also highlighted the need to foster the partnership among media agencies in implementing the EAS Declaration on maritime cooperation. The same day, ASEAN foreign ministers had an annual dialogue with representatives from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Right (AICHR), during which the ministers lauded the commission’s efforts in launching its action plan for the 2016-2020 period, and approved its prioritised activities for 2017. At a Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) conference, the participants reviewed the progress of the plan to strengthen the enforcement of the treaty in the 2013-2017 period. They discussed the speeding up of negotiations with countries owning nuclear weapons on their joining of the SEANWFZ’s protocol to ensure the nations respect the treaty and do not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the treaty’s member countries. The participants also debated measures to increase cooperation between the ASEAN Network of Regulatory Bodies on Atomic Energy and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM, ​led the Vietnamese delegation to attend the meetings. As scheduled, the 49th AMM will officially open in Vientiane on July 24, while the AMM+3 and EAS meeting are slated for July 26.-VNA