Cambodia vows to promote Asean's spirit as united family, says its foreign minister

PHNOM PENH, Dec 12 (Xinhua): Cambodia, the incoming chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) for 2022, will promote the bloc's spirit as a united family in order to maintain peace and prosperity in the region and beyond, the country's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said.

Sokhonn, who is also a deputy prime minister, made the remarks during a meeting in Phnom Penh with visiting Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet on Friday, said in a Cambodian foreign ministry's press release on Saturday.

The Cambodian top diplomat expressed Cambodia's readiness to assume the Asean chairmanship and highlighted Cambodia's priorities across the three Asean community pillars, the press release said.

"He also emphasised that the theme 'Asean A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together' endeavors to promote Asean's spirit as a united family with a high sense of 'togetherness' in upholding peace and prosperity in the region and beyond," it said.

Meanwhile, Chollet said that U.S. President Joe Biden is looking forward to hosting the Asean-U.S. Summit in Washington D.C. in the very near future during which both sides will discuss a wide range of issues and agenda, including Asean-U.S. dialogue relations, Covid-19 response and post-pandemic recovery, the press release said.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - Xinhua