A workshop was held in Myanmar ’s capital of Nay Pyi Taw on March 28
to help with the country’s preparations to assume the role of ASE AN
chairmanship for the first time in 2014.
The event
saw the attendance of senior officials from Brunei , Cambodia and
Indonesia along with representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat.
Addressing the event, Myanmar ’s Deputy Minister for Foreign
Affairs Kyaw U Thant said that his Government greatly appreciates
receiving experience from the previous chairs.
“Apart from
implementing the Roadmap, the Chair has a key role to play in promoting
ASEAN centrality, and leads ASEAN as the primary driving force in its
relations and cooperation with external partners in the evolving
regional architecture,” said U Nyan Lynn, Deputy Secretary-General for
the ASEAN Political-Security Community.
Discussions during the
workshop focused on remaining agenda items in implementing the roadmap
for an ASEAN Community, the lessons learnt and and the best practices in
ASEAN Chairmanship.
Participants also discussed ways to
assist the Myanmar Government in building its capacity, and a review of
the assistance so far provided by ASEAN member states, ASEAN’s dialogue
partners, and other entities.
The workshop was organised by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar and the ASEAN Secretariat in
collaboration with the US Government-funded ASEAN-US Technical
Assistance and Training Facility.-VNA