Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi onNovember 12 afternoon to attend the 31st ASEAN Summit and related meetings inthe Philippines.

The trip from November 12-14 is made at the invitation of Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte.

The PM is accompanied by Minister-Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Office MaiTien Dung, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, Deputy Minister of PublicSecurity Bui Van Nam, among Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran QuocKhanh, among other senior government officials.

The 31st ASEAN Summit (ASEAN-31) and related meetings are set to focus onorientations and measures for enhancing connectivity to realise the ASEANCommunity Vision 2025.

This is the most important event of the year of ASEAN with the participation ofleaders of the 10 ASEAN member nations and the bloc’s partners, which are majorcountries and important regional and international organisations.
 
At the ASEAN-31 and meetings between ASEAN andpartners, participating leaders are scheduled to discuss orientations andmeasures for strengthening connectivity to realise the ASEAN Community Vision2025, thereby sending a message about an ASEAN of peace, stability andself-reliance that is open to the world.

They will also look into ways to bolster ASEAN’scooperation with partners while mulling over regional and international issuesof mutual concern.

They are expected to sign one document, approve 25documents and recognise 20 others. The host Philippines is set to issue ninedeclarations of the Chair of the meetings.

Amid complex developments in the region and the world,growing protectionism and emerging challenges, this time’s meetings willemphasise the intensification of ASEAN’s solidarity and central role. They alsoaim to help fuel economic growth, narrow development gap and improve the ASEANCommunity’s capacity so as to have a self-reliant ASEAN benefiting people inthe member countries and ensuring peace, security and stability in the region.

Besides, the grouping’s relations with its dialoguepartners have been reinforced. ASEAN currently has dialogue relations with 11partners, including seven strategic partners. Eighty-eight partners have alsosent ambassadors to ASEAN.

While a number of countries and organisations want toestablish relations with ASEAN, many non-ASEAN nations have expressed theirinterest in joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

These partners havealso tightened multifaceted cooperation with ASEAN, assisted it to build aCommunity and supported the bloc’s central role.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, thePhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA