Asia-Pacific

17th ASEAN Summit opens in Hanoi

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-28 16:51

HANOI - The 17th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit opened here on Thursday, as leaders from the member countries gathered to discuss the building of the ASEAN Community and other related topics.  

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Being the second ASEAN Summit hosted by Vietnam as ASEAN Chair 2010, the summit was clouded by the natural disasters in Indonesia.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not attend the opening ceremony of the summit Thursday afternoon. He had to cut short his trip and returned home to oversee the rescue operation in the disaster-stricken area, after arriving in Hanoi on Tuesday for a state visit prior to attending the summit.

Some seven Chairman's statements and 30 other important documents altogether will be submitted for leaders adoption during the ASEAN Summit and related summits, from Oct 28 to 30, according to Tran Ngoc An, spokesman of the summit.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Being one of the focal topics of the summit, the participating leaders will discuss the Master Plan of ASEAN Connectivity, which will anchor the region's bold and long-term strategy to improve the region's physical, institutional and people-to-people connection.

The master plan proposes strategies to boost road, rail, shipping, air and network among the ASEAN members to reduce economic disparities in the Southeast Asia.

Apart from the 17th ASEAN Summit, there was the annual ASEAN+1 Summit between ASEAN and its partners and the second ASEAN-Russia Summit, the ASEAN-Australia Summit, the ASEAN-New Zealand Commemorative Summit, the third ASEAN-UN Summit, the ASEAN+3 Summit (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea), the fifth East Asia Summit, the second summit meeting between Japan and the Mekong region countries and the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.