(VOVWORLD) - The East Asia Summit took place in the Philippines on Monday drawing Foreign Ministers from 10 ASEAN member countries and its 8 partners. The summit has become a forum for regional leaders to discuss major political and economic cooperation issues in the region.
 11th East Asia Summit in Laos
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Organized for the first time in December 2005 in Malaysia, the East Asia Summit drew 16 countries including 10 ASEAN countries, and China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. It has now become an important forum for senior leaders to discuss strategic political and economic issues to boost peace, stability, and prosperity in East Asia. The US and Russia joined the forum at the 5th EAS summit in Hanoi in 2010 increasing the EAS membership to 18.
Over the past years, the EAS has involved many major countries in promoting dialogues, cooperation, and trust building on the basis of abiding by shared principles. The summit plays an important role in creating a favorable political framework for promoting cooperation in prioritized areas of ASEAN and its partners. High on the agenda of the summit are cooperation, code of conducts between nations, and response to security challenges.
In the last 11 years, the EAS has contributed to energy, education, finance, global health care, disaster and environment management, ASEAN connectivity support, and trade cooperation in the region. The EAS has created a multilateral dialogue mechanism for member countries to discuss and settle their disputes peacefully. The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, maritime security and safety in the East Sea are among discussions at the summit. The EAS aims to raise its role and contributions to peace and security in the region, increase trust and transparency on the basis of abiding by shared principles and codes of conducts, uphold the rule of law, and promptly respond to challenges.