(KPL) Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saleumxay Kommasith, presided over the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Vientiane, on October 8. Under the theme “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience,” the meeting brought together ASEAN foreign ministers, the ASEAN Secretary-General, Timor-Leste's Foreign Minister, and other delegates.

The ministers praised the progress made on the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Lao PDR’s nine priorities for its ASEAN chairmanship. These initiatives aim to strengthen connectivity and resilience within the ASEAN community, enabling the region to address emerging challenges and seize new opportunities in a changing geopolitical and economic landscape.

Participants also expressed satisfaction with the development of draft strategic plans to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, urging relevant ASEAN bodies to finalize these plans for adoption next year under Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.

The meeting also considered applications from several non-ASEAN countries to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). Hungary’s application was approved, while the ASEAN Secretariat was tasked with assessing requests from Poland, Romania, and Uruguay. Luxembourg is expected to sign the TAC accession instrument during the upcoming 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits. The ministers also looked forward to the future accession of Algeria, Finland, Spain, Mexico, and Hungary.

In addition to these internal matters, the meeting reaffirmed ASEAN’s commitment to strengthening its relationships with external partners and maintaining ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional framework. Lao PDR, as the ASEAN-Canada coordinator, expressed its appreciation for Canada's support in organizing the ASEAN-Canada Special Summit on Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience.

The meeting concluded with the endorsement of three key outcome documents to be presented at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits:  (1) The ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on the Development of Strategic Plans to Implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045; (2) The ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for a Future-Ready ASEAN and ASEAN-Centered Regional Architecture; (3) ASEAN Leaders’ Review and Decisions on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus.

KPL