(VOVworld) – Within the framework of the 48^th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings, ASEAN senior officials convened meetings with representatives from China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan (ASEAN+3) and others from East Asia including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India, New Zealand, Russia, and the US (SOM EAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung attends the events (Photo: VNA)

The meetings prepared the agenda for the 16^th ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers Meeting and the 5^th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting (EAS FMM). The Vietnamese delegation is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung. At the SOM ASEAN+3, the delegates reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN+3 working plan for the 2013-2017 period and a report by the East Asia Vision Group (EAVG-II) to work out directions for the future. They also summarized the implementation of cooperative projects within the ASEAN+3, focusing on economics, trade, and investment.

At the East Asia Summit Senior Officials’ Meeting, the delegates reviewed the East Asia cooperation and the celebration of the summit’s 10^th founding anniversary. Officials from ASEAN members and partner countries discussed the agenda and recommendations for the upcoming Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Their discussion focused on measures to accelerate the formation of the ASEAN Community, the implementation of the Master Plan on building an ASEAN Politics and Security Community, the promotion of external relations and ASEAN’s central role in the regional structure. They also discussed regional and global issues including the Treaty on Amity and Cooperation, the Southeast Asia Treaty on a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, the implementation of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and the establishment of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea. The 48^th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will officially open in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.