Luang Prabang (FN), Jan. 30 – Cambodian Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea reiterated the importance of further strengthening ASEAN Centrality amid growing geopolitical and geoeconomic competition among great powers on top of many persistent and overlapping challenges.

At the invitation of Laotian Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Cambodian Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' (AMM) Retreat in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR on 29 January 2024.

On regional and international issues, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea highlighted that growing geopolitical and geoeconomic competition among great powers on top of many persistent and overlapping challenges has caused concern and anxiety for many countries around the world. In this context, he reiterated the importance of further strengthening ASEAN Centrality, making use of ASEAN-led mechanisms to build strategic trust and deepen cooperation between ASEAN and its partners in order to maintain and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.

On the situation in Myanmar, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea welcomed the appointment of Alounke Kittikhoun as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar for 2024 and Lao PDR's key initiatives to facilitate the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, which would constructively contribute to a peace process that is led and owned by Myanmar. In this regard, he welcomed the initiative by Thailand and Myanmar to scale up humanitarian assistance to those who have been affected in the border areas with the AHA Centre as part of the monitoring process.
=FRESH NEWS