Phnom Penh: The 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits got underway on Friday in the capital of Cambodia, with topics including the ongoing process of community building, post-Covid recovery, and issues related to regional and international security issues among others.

The 10-member bloc was exhorted to concentrate on the shared objective of mutual growth for peace, stability, and the improvement of the region by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during the summits' opening ceremony, the report said.

He urged developing external alliances based on reciprocal trust and respect for regional and global peace, stability, and sustainable growth in order to create an ASEAN community that is cohesive, inclusive, resilient, and rules-based in the future.

The ASEAN leaders will release three statements at the conclusion of the summits, including 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, said the prime minister. Over 100 outcome documents will be adopted and noted during the meetings.

Hun Sen urged for the appropriate choices, policies, and pragmatic strategies to solve the strategic issues because the socio-economic environment in ASEAN and the rest of the world is still unstable and fragmented.

The ASEAN summits are set for November 11–13, and Cambodia will serve as the organization's chair in 2022.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam make up ASEAN, which was founded in 1967. The ASEAN chair for 2023 will be Indonesia.

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