Head of the ASEAN Studies Program at the Indonesia’sHabibie Centre Ahmad Ibrahim Almutaqqi said on January 20 that theASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) Retreat held in the central city of NhaTrang from January 16-17 yielded impressive results, laying solid foundationfor ASEAN Year 2020.

Illustrative image - Photo: VNA

He said the retreat held significance because it was thefirst meeting to announce priorities of the ASEAN Chair and decide on commonorientations for the bloc.

Almutaqqi spoke highly of initiatives mentioned in the PressStatement by the Chairman of the meeting, including those regarding Rohingyapeople in Myanmar.

According to him, the East Sea issue, the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the ASEAN Outlook on theIndo-Pacific (AOIP) are urgent issues to be faced by ASEAN this year.

On the East Sea issue, he highlighted the significance of the1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Press Statement,and hoped that a Code of Conduct in the East Sea will be much stronger thanexpected.

The scholar highly valued the priorities in realising theAOIP during the ASEAN 2020, adding that Vietnam’s wish to accelerate thesigning of the RCEP as scheduled is worth encouraging, despite several issuesin need of consideration, including concern from India.

Source: VNA