- Respected Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia,
- Distinguished Colleagues, ASEAN Foreign Ministers,
- Excellencies Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea and Timor-Lesté, guests of ASEAN Chair,
- His Excellency Secretary-General of ASEAN
- Distinguished Delegates,
- Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. First of all, I wish to express my profound gratitude to Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen for the great honour of his esteemed presence to grace the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Your presence reflects high consideration and importance of this meeting, as well as encourages the meeting’s success and fruitful outcome.
2. I would also like to warmly welcome all distinguished colleagues, ASEAN Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, and all delegates for your participation in the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, as well as other forthcoming related meetings, in Phnom Penh today.
3. Today’s Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers is very significant as it coincides with the celebration of the 45thfounding anniversary of ASEAN, this year. It bears noting, on this occasion, that ASEAN has achieved many important milestones in the past 45 years, since its establishment in 1967.
4. After successfully uniting all Southeast Asian Nations under a single umbrella, with the inclusion of Cambodia in 1999, ASEAN has been making significant gains in deepening its integration.
5. The Declaration of Bali Concord II of ASEAN which was signed by ASEAN Leaders in 2003, officially transformed ASEAN from an Association into a Community. The entry into force of the ASEAN Charter on 15 December 2008 has turned ASEAN into a legal body and raised its profile and central role as a major regional organization in the global community of nations.
6. ASEAN, guided by the ASEAN Charter, the Blue Prints of the three ASEAN Community Councils, namely ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-cultural Community, as well as other key documents, has been making steady progress in consolidating solidarity and unity within ASEAN and in deepening cooperation with all our Dialogue Partners, in order to build an economically sound and socially vibrant ASEAN Community, as well as contributing to peace and prosperity in the region.
7. ASEAN must continue its concerted efforts to maintain its centrality in many regional architectures initiated by ASEAN, such as ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus, in order to ensure the important role of ASEAN and to advance its interests.
8. During the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on July 12, we will have two new parties, the EU and the UK, signing the accession instruments to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) of ASEAN. Now, we are having all the 5 super powers, the EU and 14 other countries as parties to the TAC. This is also a very important contribution to peace and security in our region.
9. Our main task at the moment is to carry out all the decisions of our ASEAN Leaders at the 20th ASEAN Summit in April of this year, particularly on the following documents:
1) The Phnom Penh Agenda, which sets concrete priority actions for the remaining 3 years (2012-2015), in particular ASEAN integration and ASEAN connectivity, in order to realize ASEAN Community by 2015, and intensifies efforts to implement priority areas in political and security, economic and socio-cultural sectors of the three ASEAN Councils. The Phnom Penh Agenda also called for the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community as a single market and production base, by 2015.
2) We must also realize ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Drug-Free ASEAN 2015, which is to promote greater cooperation within ASEAN to eliminate all threats and the impacts of drugs on security, transnational crimes, and socio-economy of ASEAN communities, by 2015.
10. I am pleased to note that during our 45th AMM meeting we would adopt the draft ASEAN Human Rights Declaration(AHRD), which has been finalized by the members of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration will then submit to the ASEAN Leaders for signing during the 21st ASEAN Summit in November of this year. This is another step forward in ASEAN’s effort to promote and protect human rights in the region.
11. Finally, I wish to respectfully invite Samdech Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen to grace the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and related meetings with his important words of valuable guidance and inspiration for the successful advancement of the ASEAN Community building.
Thank you