PHNOM PENH: Nearly 700 reporters from 21 different countries have been registered to cover the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings, as of 30 July. The meetings are being hosted in Phnom Penh from 29 July to 5 August.
According to the General Department of Information and Broadcasting of the Ministry of Information, a total of 675 reporters have been registered to cover the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings (AMM), including 142 women and 257 foreign journalists.
Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to preside over the opening ceremony of the 55th AMM on Wednesday, and to receive a joint courtesy call from the Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General of ASEAN.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a press release outlining the major events of the 55th AMM and related Meetings, which include the Meeting of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free-zone (SEANWFZ) Commission, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Interface Meeting with ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Representatives, the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (55th AMM), the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC+1) with ASEAN's Dialogue Partners, the 23rd ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the 12th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the 29th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
According to the press release, “On the margins of the 55th AMM, the Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General of ASEAN will witness the signing of the Instruments of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) by the Kingdom of Denmark, the Hellenic Republic, the Netherlands, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.”
Additionally, three separate trilateral meetings of Cambodia and the ASEAN Secretariat will be held with three ASEAN Dialogue Partners, namely Norway, Turkey and Switzerland.
Four other countries, other than the ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partners and six countries acceding the TAC, have also been invited as guests of the ASEAN Chair, namely Papa New Guinea, Morocco, Timor-Leste and Azerbaijan.
The Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs, DPM Prak Sokhonn, is expected to also hold several bilateral meetings with his foreign counterparts during this time.
