The two-day 26th ASEAN Summit concluded on Langkawi island, Malaysia on April 27, adopting three key declarations.

They include the ‘Kuala Lumpur Declaration on a People-Oriented, People-Centred ASEAN”, the “Langkawi Declaration on the Global Movement of Moderates”, and the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on institutionalising the resilience of ASEAN and its peoples to disasters and climate change.

In his speech at the plenary session, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the formation of the ASEAN Community later this year is a historic milestone in the regional integration process and a result of continuous cooperation among its member states over the past five decades, laying a solid foundation for regional development.

Vietnam has strived and achieved positive progresses in realising the Agenda for building the ASEAN Community while fine-tuning regulations at home to deliver on ASEAN commitments, he said.

Underscoring the need to develop the post-2015 ASEAN Community Vision, the PM also mentioned several strategic orientations to the vision and called for initiatives to boost solidarity and central role of the ASEAN in maintaining peace, security and development in the region, as well as its leading role in the evolving regional architecture and in the settlement of regional issues.

The PM stated that ASEAN needs to boost external relations by promoting dialogues and collaboration in effectively coping with economic and security challenges, including non-traditional security.

Concerned about current activities on the East Sea, he stressed the significance of abiding by self-restraint principle, not complicating the situation and settling disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Themed “Our People, Our Vision, Our Community”, the summit attracted leaders from 10 member states who hailed the completion of 93 percent of required tasks to shape the ASEAN Community later this year.

They also called for accelerated efforts to work on the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity and the Initiative for ASEAN Integration and Narrowing the Development Gap.

On the post-2015 ASEAN Community Vision, leaders requested more specific goals and development orientations for the next decade.

The high-level task force was asked to devise the draft vision to submit to the 27th ASEAN Summit slated for this November for approval.

Participants also urged units concerned to act on recommendations by the high-level task force on improving the capacity of the ASEAN Secretariat and organs. They also agreed with Laos’ proposal to hold the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summit in late 2016 before making a final decision on the number of the ASEAN summits held annually.

They shared the view that ASEAN should continue deepening ties with partners while reinforcing internal solidarity and improving the efficiency of existing frameworks and mechanisms in which it plays a leading role, contributing to regional peace, security, stability and development as well as effectively coping with traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

In his opening remark, Malaysia Prime Minister Nazib Razak said respect to international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS must be a basis of regulations on interfering in the East Sea activities.

As Chair of the ASEAN, Malaysia hopes that the region will make strides in achieving the COC soon, he said.

VNA