(VOVworld) – On Tuesday, the 49th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-49) and related meetings close in Vientiane, Laos.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

The meetings include the 17th ASEAN+3 meeting between ASEAN, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea; the 6th meeting of the East Asia Summit (EAS) with the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and China; and the 23rd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) attended by the 10 ASEAN countries and ASEAN’s 17 partners.

During the 17th ASEAN+3 meeting, foreign ministers review of the progress of their action plan for 2013-2017 and prepare a plan for the next period. Preparations for the ASEAN+3 Summit Meeting in September, including the Declaration on Sustainable Development proposed by Laos, are also tabled.

The 6th meeting of the EAS discuss the formation of the regional architecture and the EAS’s role, and the implementation of the declaration marking the EAS’s 10th anniversary issued in November 2015. The ministers debate measures to strengthen the EAS mechanism, such as establishing a Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR+8) in Jakarta and an EAS body within the ASEAN Secretariat.

The 23rd ARF foreign ministers’ meeting review the implementation of trust-building and preventive diplomatic measures in the past two months and adopt a list of activities for the next 12 months (2016-2017). The meeting is expected to adopt statements on tightening border control to prevent criminal movement initiated by China, on recent terrorist attacks initiated by Japan, and on enhancing cooperation among law enforcement forces at sea initiated by Vietnam. Foreign ministers will also discuss the East Sea, the Korean Peninsula, terrorism and extreme violence, human trafficking, and abnormal migration