The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) Retreat in Malaysia on January 28 was a success, contributing to determining the vision and future of the alliance during 2015 when Malaysia is the ASEAN Chair, said ASEAN chief Le Luong Minh.

Mr. Le Luong Minh.

The event’s outcomes are crucial to not only the formation of the common community this year but also the association’s integration process beyond 2015, ASEAN Secretary-General Minh noted.

He revealed that the participating ministers supported Malaysia’s proposal to design a blueprint of the post-2015 ASEAN Vision, as it is expected to be adopted at the 27th ASEAN Summit scheduled for this November.

The ministers also reached a consensus that the people of ASEAN nations ought to be the centre of all action plans and efforts of the group this year. Furthermore, importance should be placed on developing small and medium-sized enterprises, as they form the backbone of the regional economy.

To boost intra-ASEAN trade, they took the idea of a single time zone for the region into consideration.

Territorial disputes, including those involving the East Sea, terrorism threats, transnational crimes, migrant workers, internal conflicts are faced by the alliance, he said, stressing the need for all ten member nations to maintain a common voice, respect each other and practice restraint in dealing with tensions.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.