By S Ramesh
Channel News Asia (Singapore)
SINGAPORE: ASEAN leaders have begun arriving at the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh for their 20th Summit in what is seen by political observers as an important meeting to take stock of two key developments.
The first is the pace of ASEAN's integration programmes and the implementation of the Masterplan of ASEAN Connectivity, to ensure the grouping is on target to achieve its 2015 Economic Community objective.
The second is to get an update on developments in member-state Myanmar, which just held a series of by-elections and who will assume the ASEAN Chair in 2014, just a year before the ASEAN Economic Community programme is realised.
ASEAN leaders are expected to encourage Myanmar to continue on its reforms in the run up to its taking over the ASEAN Chair, and express their support to Myanmar to make its chairmanship of ASEAN a success.
But before the leaders gather for their discussions, ASEAN's foreign ministers will hold their Coordinating Council meeting on Monday, where they will exchange views on regional and international issues, and the implementation of the ASEAN Charter.
The Foreign Ministers will also consider the draft ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Drug-Free ASEAN 2015, as well as Pakistan's request for full Dialogue Partner status with ASEAN.
The ASEAN Summit will be chaired by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, who will host a dinner for the leaders on Monday night.
ASEAN leaders will also meet representatives from the Inter-Parliamentary assembly, Civil Society Organisations and Youth representatives during their two-day summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
At the close of the Summit on Wednesday, the leaders are expected to sign three documents.
These are the Phnom Penh Declaration on ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny; the Phnom Penh Agenda on ASEAN Community Building; and the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Drug Free ASEAN 2015.
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