PHNOM PENH: Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Spokesperson of the ASEAN Summit, Kung Phoak, has said that there were four major achievements made during the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Secretary of State Kung Phoak sat down with EAC News for an exclusive interview, to provide some key insights into the ASEAN Summit. The following is a short preview of the full interview, which will be released soon.
With the 2022 ASEAN Summit now over and the gavel handed over to Indonesia, Cambodia can finally begin to settle down after a full year of busy preparations and a job well done. This was the third time Prime Minister Hun Sen held the ASEAN Chairmanship, and he had to face a barrage of obstacles on the road to the ASEAN Summit, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the ongoing Myanmar crisis.
One of the most important positions at the Summit this year was that of the official Summit Spokesperson, Secretary of State Kung Phoak.
“Being the spokesperson was a new task for me, [I had] never done it in the past," said the Secretary of State. "But it was rewarding and enriching in terms of the opportunity to engage with our colleagues in the media, like yourself (referring to our EAC News reporter), and also the ability to share the pride... that so many of my colleagues have been working together on, to put a positive face on all of [our] collective efforts.
“The success that we just achieved is not just the work of one ministry or one individual, but the collective effort and commitment of all relevant ministries and agencies. I'm so lucky and honored to be in a position to share all this positive news to the world. Of course, hundreds and hundreds of people were [working] behind the scenes, and they've been [putting in] a lot of effort to make sure that the 41st Summit and related summits were a great success.”
One of the main things Secretary of State Kung Phoak discussed during the interview was what the biggest outcomes were from the Summit, as well as what the Summit’s biggest achievements were.
“First, 103 outcome documents, that is no small feat," he said. "[Second,] 24 leaders and heads of international organization came to town (Phnom Penh). Third, they managed to sit together at the table and talk about stuff. They enjoyed dinner. They did not fight. And fourth, the ability to put out clear positions and visions on some of the hot topics that we are now facing, ranging from the issue in Myanmar, war in Ukraine, Korean peninsula, South China Sea and so on.
"The last one was the ability of our ASEAN member states to move forward with our community building process and our regional integration efforts. I should say that this is what qualifies [as the] key outcomes of this Summit.”
Secretary of State Kung Phoak speaks more on hot topics like the ongoing Myanmar crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war in the full exclusive interview with EAC News. Stay tuned for more.
