Thai PM to attend 23rd ASEAN Summit in Brunei

BANGKOK, October 4 (TNA) - Thailand's Department of ASEAN Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Thai Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will attend the 23rd ASEAN Summit in Brunei Darussalam, set from October 9-10, 2013. The department's Director-General, Attayut Srisamut, confirmed on Friday that Premier Yingluck will join leaders of other member countries of the Association of Souhteast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 10-member bloc's dialogue partners, including, China, Japan and South Korea, India and the United States, in attending the ASEAN Summit 2013 and related forums, namely the ASEAN+3 meeting and the East Asia Summit (EAS), during which they will discuss progress of cooperation among ASEAN member states and the dialogue partners. Besides, the senior official said, the forthcoming regional gathering, to be held in Banda Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital, will also serve as a platform for the ASEAN leaders to exchange their views on key regional and international issues. The 23rd ASEAN Summit and related forums will be the last to be held under Brunei’s ASEAN Chairmanship, before Myanmar taking the rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN bloc as of 2014. (TNA)