Phnom Penh (FN), Nov. 13 – Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, in his capacity as the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2022 said that his one year of ASEAN Chairmanship was full of memorable and historical moment for him and for Cambodia.

The premier spoke at the closing ceremony of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits and handing over ASEAN Chairmanship to Indonesia, held on Sunday (Nov 13) in Sokha Hotel Phnom Penh.

“A year has passed since I received the ASEAN chairmanship gavel from Bruneian king Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on 28 October 2021, a year full of memorable and historical moment for me and for Cambodia, a great honor to have assumed this rotating chairmanship,” the premier underscored.

“As we are making an all-out effort to recover from the impacts of COVID19 and deal with the Myanmar crisis, unexpected situations with far-reaching security, social and economic consequences have emerged,” the premier continued.

Nevertheless, ASEAN has managed, once again, to navigate unscathed through these rough waters and successfully delivered substantial outcomes. We have lived up to our chairmanship’s theme “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”.

Samdech was pleased that the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits are now behind us, thanks to the full cooperation, support and flexibilities extended by ASEAN member states and all partners, we have a long list of achievements to be proud of.

The pleasure that Samdech has in hosting, in Phnom Penh and in person, all the leaders and delegates is immeasurable. For the last two years, our physical interactions were interrupted by the spread of COVID19 and its deadly variants.

“It is certainly a major challenges to conclude 16 Summits within these four days, despite significant challenges. I recognize the hard work of our team and the extra mile they have taken to ensure that everyone is comfortable and this Chairmanship ends with a great success,” Samdech added.
=FRESH NEWS