PHNOM PENH, November 13. /TASS/. The centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the main driver of dialogue and cooperation of the bloc's countries with external partners through mechanisms led by the association, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Sunday, speaking at a news conference on the results of the 40th and 41st ASEAN summits held in Phnom Penh from November 8 to 13, as well as related events.
"Within these four days, we have had a comprehensive and productive discussion on the way forward to strengthen ASEAN centrality and our value in relation with our external partners, particularly at a time when the world is facing the fast evolving complex regional and international issue," the Cambodian Prime Minister said, adding that a total of 70 outcome documents and declarations covering the three pillars of ASEAN communities were adopted and noted at the summits, with various cooperation frameworks with dialogue partners endorsed.
These included, according to Hun Sen, the ASEAN Leaders' Statement on the 55th Anniversary of ASEAN, the ASEAN Leaders' Vision Statement on ASEAN A.C.T: Addressing Challenges Together, and the ASEAN Leaders' Statement on ASEAN Connectivity Post-2025 Agenda.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was founded in 1967 and today unites ten Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia joined the association on April 30, 1999.
Since the beginning of 2022, Cambodia has held the ASEAN chairmanship, which was taken over from Brunei. At the end of the ASEAN Summit week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen handed the symbolic gavel of the ASEAN Chair to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country will officially head the association as of January 1, 2023.