Consolidate cooperation

This week's series of foreign ministers meetings, which are being held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, should be an opportunity to deepen mutual trust, expand common ground, promote cooperation and consolidate the development momentum of the area.

The meetings under the frameworks of 10+1 (ASEAN plus China), 10+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), the East Asia Forum and the ASEAN Regional Forum have become important venues to discuss major regional issues between ASEAN and its partners from inside and outside the region.

It is expected that a number of key documents will be signed including the Statement on the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone - the result of 12 years' negotiations - which will have a significant bearing on security in the Asia-Pacific region.