Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem attended the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and the ASEAN Coordinating Council in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand, on February 27 ahead of the 14th regional summit.

These meetings were to boost ASEAN’s internal cooperation, especially following the ratification of the ASEAN Charter which took effect last December.

The ministers agreed that ASEAN should give priority to bringing its charter to life to make a giant step towards building an ASEAN community by 2015.

They also discussed measures to boost the bloc’s external relations and enhance its central role in settling new regional issues.

They approved key documents to be submitted to their leaders at the regional summit on February 28-March 1. The documents include a statement on the roadmap for building the ASEAN community and the working plan for the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (second phase).

VietNamNet/VOV