The 44^th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting and related meetings kicked off Monday in the Cambodian tourist hub of Siem Reap. During the 5-day session, the ministers will discuss ways to accelerate intra-ASEAN economic integration, which will facilitate the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang led the Vietnamese delegation to the meeting. In his opening speech, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the top priority now is to speed up building an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 through making ASEAN an united market and a manufacturing base. ASEAN also needs to maintain and strengthen its central role in the structure of regional economic cooperation, he added. The Cambodian Prime Minister urged the bloc’s economic ministers to continue to enhance trade and economic cooperation between ASEAN and the world by approaching dialogue partners such as the US, Russia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea.