In his opening speech, head of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s Policy Analysis and Development Agency Siswo Pramono said the complicated developments in the East Sea require each ASEAN member state to strengthen solidarity for common development goals. 

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Associate Professor Ralf Emmers from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore said the East Sea issue is one of the important topics to be discussed at the upcoming 28 th and 29 th ASEAN Summit in Laos. 

According to him, it is the first time ASEAN and world leaders to meet bilaterally and multilaterally following the ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands on July 12. 

On the occasion, he called on ASEAN member states to play a constructive role in the settlement of the East Sea dispute by standing united and raising a common voice. 

The seminar, held by the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, was divided into three sessions dealing with the current status of the East Sea, ASEAN and the East Sea, and peaceful solution to the East Sea dispute.

VNA