ASEAN vows to speed up community building

BAGAN, Myanmar (Xinhua) - ASEAN Foreign Ministers vowed to speed up efforts in ASEAN Community building and integration and move forward to the realization of ASEAN Community in 2015 as priorities this year.

It was pledged on Friday at the end of the foreign ministers meeting (Retreat), the first meeting of the regional bloc hosted by Myanmar, in Bagan, an ancient city in northern Mandalay region.

During the retreat chaired by Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin, ASEAN foreign ministers also touched on developing ASEAN Vision for post 2015 as guided by ASEAN leaders' statement at the 23rd ASEAN Summit and exploring ways to strengthen ASEAN's external relations.

The ministers also discussed ways to further contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and beyond.

The gathering was the first in the series of ASEAN meetings since Myanmar took over ASEAN chairmanship from Brunei at the beginning of 2014 under the theme "moving forward in unity to a peaceful and prosperous community".

Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin called on member states to start the process as soon as possible after finalizing the terms of reference on a new vision beyond 2015.

In this regard, he expressed Myanmar's willingness to work closely with all ASEAN members and particularly with Malaysia, the next chair, and take an initiative to formulate Nay Pyi Taw Declaration during Myanmar's chairmanship.

Emphasizing that the review of ASEAN institutions is also an equally important task, he urged prompt start of work of high-level task force, saying that Myanmar is ready to host the first HLTF meeting.

During Myanmar's chairmanship in 2014, the country is set to formulate ASEAN Community Post-2015 Vision collectively, to promote SMEs as prime movers of ASEAN's economic development in 21st century, to address narrowing the development gap among member states, to promote sustainable development, to address the growing trend of aging population, to promote resilience in addressing crisis and disaster and to take a balanced approach in expansion of relations with dialogue partners.

He called for redoubled efforts for the success of ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan, taking into account of ASEAN's geographic position of being a land bridge between ASEAN  strategic partners of China and India.

He also called for increased efforts to promote tolerance among interfaith communities, and harmonious environment within the societies.

ASEAN comprises ten member countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.