Thailand To Host 15th Asean Summit In October:

[chuenjit]

PHUKET, Thailand, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The 15th ASEAN Summit is to be held on October 23-25 in Thailand resort island Phuket with a focus on the process to integrate the ASEAN community, Vitavas Srivihok, Director-General of the ASEAN Affairs Department of the Thai Foreign Ministry, told a press conference here on Tuesday.

According to Vitavas, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told the 42nd ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting on Tuesday that among top priorities for discussion at the 15th ASEAN Summit are education and human resource development.

For 2009, Thailand is the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and from July 17-23 the country is hosting the 42nd Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and 16th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket.

The Summit will also be proposed to discuss connectivity between the ASEAN and the South and East Asia as the ASEAN will be the center of this connectivity in all terms, said Vitavas.

Meanwhile, Thailand is now coordinating with the United Nations(UN) for organizing the ASEAN-UN Summit during the October's ASEAN Summit in Thailand, he said. Moreover, Thailand plans to add the ASEAN global dialogue meeting as another important event during the ASEAN Summit in October, he said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/...nt_11745937.htm