The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states met on Tuesday in the Lao capital Vientiane, ahead of the three-day talks between leaders of ASEAN and its dialogue partners including China and the United States.
The 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits are underway in Vientiane from Oct 8 to 11, bringing together some 2,000 delegates and about 1,000 journalists from Laos and other countries.
The meetings are held against the backdrop of big global security worries, but also an upbeat economic outlook for Southeast Asia. As a major trading bloc, ASEAN is particularly sensitive to global economic shocks.
"ASEAN concerted effort is needed to respond proactively and effectively to these challenges with a view to maintaining and promoting regional and global peace, stability and prosperity, as well as to maintaining ASEAN relevance and centrality," said Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith.
ASEAN has evolved into a highly integrated economic community and has further boosted its connectivity through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade deal.
The region is projected to achieve a growth rate of around 4.5 percent this year, demonstrating a strong momentum of resilience.
"There's greater purchasing power because of sustained growth of 4-5 percent. A large part of it is also attributed not just to the consumption growth but also importantly, rising investment, and of course the influence of foreign direct investments. All these are actually spurring a lot of potential for the region," said Prof. Yeah Kim Leng, senior fellow and director of the Economic Studies Programme at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia at Sunway University in Malaysia.
ASEAN foreign ministers meet ahead of leaders' summit
ASEAN foreign ministers meet ahead of leaders' summit
A Chinese envoy reiterated the necessity on Wednesday for external armed forces and mercenaries to withdraw from Libya as soon as possible.
"The peaceful reconstruction of Libya is now at a critical stage, and to promote political transition is an important cornerstone to ensure its long-term peace and stability. China calls on all parties to continue to adhere to the general direction of a political settlement, strengthen dialog and consultation, and garner more consensus for the early resumption of political negotiations and establishing unified state institutions," said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, at the Security Council briefing on the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
Dai called on the international community to continue to support efforts to seek African solutions to African problems and promote a political settlement to the Libyan issue. "We call for the respect for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Libya, and reiterate our urge that external armed forces and mercenaries be withdrawn from Libya as soon as possible in a smooth and orderly manner," he said.
He also called for easing antagonism and confrontation, and maintaining security and stability; and focusing on humanitarian challenges and improving people's livelihood in Libya.
Noting that Libya has experienced a long period of civil war and conflict with a seriously divided security structure, and some of the recent unilateral actions have worsened the fragile security situation, the ambassador called on all Libyan parties to put the interest of the country and the people first, remain rational and restraint, continue to strictly comply with the ceasefire agreement, implement the consensus of the 5+5 joint military commission, and work together to safeguard the hard-won detente.
Dai urged the international community to continue to provide support to Libya in strengthening counter-terrorism efforts and maintaining border security, and to scale up humanitarian assistance and provide more constructive support for its development and rebuilding.
He said China supports Libya to utilize its oil resources well and use oil revenues to improve people's well-beings, and called on the Security Council to pay effective attention to the concerns of the Libyan authorities regarding frozen assets abroad and work out a solution as soon as possible to protect Libyan people from losing their wealth.
China supports UNSMIL to play its due role in mediating the Libyan issue and make greater effort to advance political transition and achieve lasting peace in Libya, Dai said.
Chinese envoy urges external armed forces to withdraw from Libya
