Senior Officials from the ASEAN Member States would be arriving in Phnom Penh tomorrow to prepare for the series of meetings of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN. The 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM)/Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC)/19th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)/2nd East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers Meeting will kick off this Sunday, 8 July 2012 and conclude on Friday, 13th July 2012 at the Peace Palace.
The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (ASEAN SOM) on 6-7 July 2012 is expected to discuss the preparations for each of the meetings including the issues to be discussed at the Foreign Ministers’ meetings. These include the progress of ASEAN Community-building such as the draft Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Institute of Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), draft ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties to the South China Sea. The progress of the implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan II is also on the agenda of the SOM.
The officials would also be considering the relevant instruments for the accession of the European Union and the United Kingdom to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Several instruments involving the signing by the Nuclear Weapon States to the Protocol of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) would also be considered.