ASEAN-Russia summit to define new goals of partnership - Cambodian PM

HANOI, May 17. /TASS/. The ASEAN-Russia summit dedicated to the 20th anniversary of establishing relations of dialog partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Moscow will help to define new goals of bilateral cooperation in the future, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said in an exclusive interview with TASS. The prime minister, who leads the country’s delegation at the summit in Sochi on May 19-20, said Cambodia attaches great importance to the relations of partnership between ASEAN and Russia."We note significant progress reached in developing all-encompassing partnership of ASEAN and Russia over the past two decades in a whole range of areas, including politics, security, trade, culture and people’s diplomacy," he said. Cambodia is sure that the summit will contribute to the further buildup of partnership of Russia and ASEAN with the goal of bringing it to a higher strategic level, the prime minister said. Phnom Penh backs the Sochi declaration that the leaders are expected to approve after the summit, he added. Russia-ASEAN summit The Russia-ASEAN summit will be held in Sochi on May 19-20 and will become the biggest international event in Russia in 2016. The summit will be held under the slogan "Towards Strategic Partnership for the Sake of the Common Good." The summit is expected to adopt a declaration that will lay the basis for an action plan of Russia-ASEAN cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres, as well as in the sphere of security. Russia has been a dialog partner of ASEAN since July 1996. Similar partnership summits are normally held on the territory of member-states and the choice of Sochi as venue for the Russia-ASEAN summit on the partnership’s 20th anniversary is symbolic. Read more