VIENTIANE, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit on Tuesday urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enhance its centrality when deals with relations with the bloc's external partners based on the "ASEAN Way."
Bounnhang made the remarks during his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, calling on member states to work together toward further advancing a vibrant, sustainable and highly integrated economy, enhancing connectivity and narrowing the development gap within the 10-nation bloc.
The president said that ASEAN should also enhance its cooperation and collaboration with the international community so as to address challenges such as terrorism and extremism, natural disaster, climate change and migration crisis.
Laos chairs the 10-nation bloc this year that marks the first year after the establishment of the ASEAN Community. With five-decade efforts, ASEAN has become a single market and production base with a combined gross domestic product of 2.43 trillion U.S. dollars in 2015, ranking as the world's sixth largest economy, according to Bounnhang.
The 28th and 29th ASEAN summits, with the theme of "Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community," were held from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Related summits, namely the ASEAN plus One Summits, Summit on Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, ASEAN plus Three (China, Japan, and South Korea) Summit, and the East Asia Summit, will be held on Wednesday and Thursday with a focus on cooperation between ASEAN and the dialogue partners.
