DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “ASEAN leaders stress ASEAN centrality, cooperation with dialogue partners” plus 5 more

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Southeast Asian leaders on Thursday discussed and stressed the importance of ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture during the last day of the 22nd ASEAN Summit.

The summit, under the theme "Our People, Our Future Together", kicked off at the Prime Minister's Office complex here Wednesday night, where leaders of the 10 member states congregated to push ahead with ASEAN Community building efforts and to strengthen the group's external relations with dialogue partners.

The leaders reiterated the significance of ASEAN's central role in evolving regional political, security and economic architecture, and reaffirmed the commitment to work closely with all dialogue partners through various ASEAN-led mechanisms, the Chairman's Statement of the 22nd ASEAN Summit said.

They also welcomed external partners to enhance cooperation with ASEAN to ensure the maintenance of peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN leaders Thursday reaffirmed their full support for all efforts to bring about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the early resumption of the Six-party Talks.

In the Chairman's statement of the 22nd ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN leaders expressed concerns over the recent developments in the Korean Peninsula.

"We encouraged the Democratic people's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to comply fully with its obligations under all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions and to its commitments under the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-party Talks," said the statement.

The ASEAN leaders emphasized the importance of dialogue aimed at promoting mutual understanding and confidence among all parties concerned with ensuring peace, security and stability on the Korean peninsula.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN leaders reaffirmed, in the statement, their commitment to preserving South Asia as a nuclear weapon-free zone and free of all other weapons of mass destruction. "We looked forward to the signing of the Protocol to the Treaty on Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-free Zone (SEANWFZ) and its related documents without reservations as early as possible," said the statement.

ASEAN was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The ASEAN leaders took note of and expressed satisfaction at the progress towards setting up an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015, according to the Chairman's statement of the 22nd ASEAN Summit Thursday.

The two-day summit under the theme "Our People, Our Future Together" opened at the Prime Minister's Office here Wednesday, where leaders of the 10 member states gathered to review and deliberate on the economic integration efforts, and a host of regional and international issues of common concern.

According to the statement, 259 measures, or 77.54 percent of the AEC Blueprint, have been implemented as of now.

The leaders agreed to enhance ASEAN's competitiveness by better facilitating trade and investment, leveraging upon on-going work to establish the AEC. They also recommended rolling out a roadmap to set out initiatives to ease the way of doing business and address investment impediments in the region.

Official statistics show that since the adoption of the Blueprint in November 2007, per capita income in the region has risen from 2,267 U.S. dollars to 3,759 U.S. dollars in 2012.

The total trade of the 10-nation bloc grew by 16.8 percent, from 2.05 trillion U.S. dollars in 2010 to 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2011, as intra-ASEAN trade reached 598 billion U.S. dollars from 520 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 15.1 percent year-on-year.

The ASEAN region has also continued to attract foreign investors, generating a record foreign direct investment inflow of 114 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, a 23 percent rise from 2010.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

PHNOM PENH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Uruguay on Thursday signed an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders, aiming at creating close contacts among the two countries' diplomats, officials and business people, officials said.

The deal was inked here between Long Visalo, secretary of state at Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Gerardo Prato Rodriguez, Malaysia-based Ambassador of Uruguay to Cambodia.

"The agreement will help strengthen relationship between Cambodia and Uruguay," said Gerardo Prato Rodriguez, adding that Uruguay is looking forwards to building a stronger relationship with Cambodia in all fields for mutual benefits.

He also pledged to encourage Uruguayan business people to eye investment opportunities in Cambodia.

Long Visalo said, "Our two countries are very far away from each other and relations in all fields are limited, so the visa- free agreement is aimed to facilitate both sides' diplomats and officials to contact each other easier."

"Hopefully, it will help promote bilateral ties in politics, economics, trade, tourism, and culture," he said.

Uruguay is a country in the southeastern part of South America. The country forged diplomatic relations with Cambodia in 1993.

He said, to date, Cambodia has signed mutual visa-free agreements for diplomatic and official passport holders with all ASEAN countries, and India, China, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Pakistan, and Cuba among the others.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The 22nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit opened here Wednesday evening under the theme "Our People, Our Future Together".

The summit is expected to focus on community building efforts towards regional integration and to strive to forge a common stance on important regional economic and security issues.

With the exception of Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who opted out of the summit, all other nine leaders of the ASEAN nations will be present at the conference hosted by Brunei.

Malaysia's President of Senate Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, filled in as Najib's special representative.

Earlier in the day, leaders of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were welcomed at the airport before being whisked away in stately parades.

They will attend a working dinner presided over by Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the brand new Prime Minister's Office Building in the capital.

A retreat for the leaders will be held at the same location on Thursday before the leaders go ahead with discussions on crucial trade deals and ASEAN integration.

Following the summit, the leaders are expected to adopt the Chairman's Statement of the 22nd ASEAN Summit.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN leaders arrived here on Wednesday to attend a highly anticipated summit that will deal with key economic and security issues in the Asia Pacific region.

With the exception of Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who opted out of the 22nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, all other nine leaders will be present at the conference that is hosted by Brunei.

President of Senate Senator Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, will fill in for Prime Minister Najib and arrived with his delegation on Tuesday.

Leaders of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam were welcomed at the airport before being whisked away in stately parades.

They will attend a working dinner presided over by Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the brand new Prime Minister's Office Building in the capital.

Another treat for the same leaders will be held at the same location on Thursday before the leaders attend discussions focused on pushing ahead with crucial trade deals and ASEAN integration.

The members are expected to review and discuss the current progress of ASEAN integration and community-building efforts, including the implementation of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC).

ASEAN leaders will endorse a decision by their economic ministers to expand trade ties with China's southern city, Hong Kong, international media has reported. The bloc was Hong Kong's second biggest trading partner in 2011 after mainland China, figures from the territory's trade and industry department website showed.

Five of the ASEAN countries -- Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines -- were among Hong Kong's top 20 trading partners.

"As we approach the establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015, all ASEAN member states are aware of the need to deliver on the objectives which we set for ourselves," noted ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh in a statement released ahead of the summit opening.

"Our ability to meet these objectives will have far reaching effect for ASEAN beyond 2015," he had added.

Other issues that will also be discussed are ASEAN's central role and the regional architecture, its future direction and ways in which to further strengthen the coordination and capabilities of ASEAN's existing institutional mechanisms, including the ASEAN Secretariat.

The leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern.

According to World Bank estimates, ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow by 7.9 percent this year, and 7.6 percent in 2014, making it the fastest growing region in the world.