The 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit ended smoothly on Sunday and 16 nation leaders agreed to join hands to fight the global economic slowdown and revise their trade cooperation efforts.
The 15th Asean Summit involved leaders from 10 Asean countries - Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - together with their dialogue partners from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
The event was held from Oct 23 to 25 in Cha-am and Hua Hin districts.
During the summit, leaders in eastern Asia inaugurated the first ever Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and ratified a statement on disaster management for Asian countries.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, as the bloc's chairman, had a bilateral talk with China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and they both agreed that the two countries will jointly invest in the rail system. Prime Minister Jiabao said he will visit Thailand next year.
As for Mr Abhisit's bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Australia agreed to cooperate with Thailand in education and will continue expanding the bilateral trade and investment.
Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said the Asean Plus Six meeting agreed to raise the role of East Asia on the global stage in terms of economic, social, monetary and financial areas.
Mr Surin said the East Asian community would play a more pivotal role in adressing climate change and taking part in the G-20 Summit.
The Asean Plus Six countries make up 20 per cent of the world's gross domestic product and 50 per cent of the foreign exchange reserves, he said.
Source: Bangkok Post
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