Asean Senior Officials' Meeting begins today

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) officially commences on Saturday (May 24) leading up to the 46th Asean Summit, which is scheduled to occur at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from May 26 to 27.
The session starts at 8:30am and convenes Asean SOM Leaders, Timor-Leste's SOM representatives, and officials from the Asean Secretariat.
After a working lunch, the SOM would reconvene in the afternoon, followed by a series of informal consultations on implementing the Five-Point Consensus, Asean's collective roadmap for addressing the situation in Myanmar.
The consultations would begin at 4pm with targeted discussions among selected Asean Foreign Ministers and senior envoys from Malaysia, Laos and the Philippines, before expanding to a broader Asean representation in a later session.
The outcome of these discussions was expected to shape the bloc's collective response to the current situation.
As diplomacy shifts from conference halls to more informal settings, the evening would culminate in a welcome dinner hosted by Malaysia's Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
The dinner, held at the PETRONAS Club, would welcome Foreign Ministers from Asean, Timor-Leste, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China. It would be the week's first official high-level gathering.
Simultaneously, the Preparatory Senior Economic Officials' Meeting (Prep-SEOM) would establish the foundation for the 25th Asean Economic Community Council.
This year's Asean Summit, themed "Inclusivity and Sustainability," encompasses the 2nd Asean-GCC Summit and the inaugural Asean-GCC-China Summit. – Bernama

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