Laos will host two Asean Summits back to back in November 2016 during which Laos will chair the regional bloc, a senior Lao diplomat has said.
Asean leaders have expressed their support for the Lao proposed arrangement at the 26th Asean Summit, which was held on April 27 in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, Malaysia, Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Alounkeo Kittikhoun said on Tuesday.
Mr Alounkeo, who is also Lao Asean SOM [Senior Officials Meeting] Leader, gave an interview to local media informing them of the new arrangement for the 28th and 29th Asean Summits.
Elaborating on the Lao proposal to organise the summits back to back, Mr Alounkeo added that during the Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) held on April 26, the ministers deliberated on, among other things, the issue of streamlining Asean meetings under which Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Thongloun Sisoulith has proposed to organise the two Asean Summits back to back in November 2016 during the Lao Chairmanship of Asean.
The 28th Asean Summit will focus on issues pertaining to Asean, while the 29th will discuss issues related to Asean's external relations and exchange views on regional and international issues, among others.
At the AMM, the Asean Foreign Ministers agreed by consensus to the proposal of Laos, according to Mr Alounkeo.
Based on the outcome of the AMM, Mr Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos, as the incoming Chair of Asean in 2016, has informed the 26th Asean Summit that Laos will organise the 28th Asean Summit back to back with 29th Asean Summit in November 2016.
“The Asean Leaders have expressed support for such an arrangement by the Lao PDR,” Mr Alounkeo said.
He also briefed on the successful outcome of the 26th Asean Summit. Hailing the success of the summit, Mr Alounkeo said the Asean leaders discussed various political-security, economic and socio-cultural issues and adopted a number of important documents. Among those, there was an initiative by Laos.
According to a press release from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 26th summit endorsed three declarations namely: the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on a People-Oriented, People-Centred Asean , Langkawi Declaration on the Global Movement of Moderates, and The Asean ‘Declaration On Institutionalising the Resilience of Asean and Its Communities and People to Disasters and Climate Change'.
In addition, the Asean leaders, through their collective effort, agreed that Asean will be able to realise the Asean Community Building by the end of this year.
The summit reviewed progress made towards building the Asean community. The leaders also hailed the progress made in drafting the post-2015 vision and the action plan to implement the vision. The draft is expected to be approved at the 27th Summit scheduled to be held at the end of this year, according to the press release.
