Wednesday, 02/01/2019 15:54 (GMT+7)
Thailand on January 1st started its role as the rotating Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2019.
When receiving the role from Singapore at the ASEAN Summit on November 13th-15th, 2018, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha defined “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability" as the official theme for the year Thailand assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship.
Source: VNA
Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, in his speech on November 21st, 2018, also emphasised the need to adapt to new conditions of ASEAN if the organisation wants to be a modern regional community.
ASEAN groups ten countries namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is now the world’s sixth largest economy with a population of 650 million and a GDP of nearly USD3 trillion.
With ASEAN’s increasing role and position, world powers like the US, Russia and China have showed their desire to further develop relations with the bloc./.
CPV/VNA