(Phnom Penh): Cambodian Delegate Minister So Naro briefed the outcomes of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The delegate minister spoke on Tuesday (Oct. 28) during a press conference on the outcomes of Samdech Thipadei's participation in the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Malaysia.
So Naro noted that at the ASEAN Summit, the only ASEAN Award presented this year was awarded to the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia (UYFC), which was selected as the winner of the ASEAN Award 2025. He described this as a great honour, recognising UYFC’s dedicated contributions to the ASEAN community.
He continued that the Summit also saw a historic signing ceremony that officially admitted Timor-Leste as the 11th full member of ASEAN. He emphasised that this achievement was due to the strong and continuous support of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, former Prime Minister, and Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia, in advocating for Timor-Leste’s full membership.
According to So Naro, the 47th ASEAN Summit held a Plenary Session, during which ASEAN leaders discussed accelerating efforts to build the ASEAN Community toward resilience, innovation, inclusiveness, and a people-centred future in line with the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 under the theme “Our Shared Future”. The leaders also discussed ways to strengthen ASEAN Centrality and unity to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
Amid evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic developments and ASEAN’s external relations, he noted that ASEAN leaders reaffirmed the organisation’s leading role in shaping a rules-based regional architecture. ASEAN leaders also witnessed the signing of the Second Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and attended the 47th ASEAN Retreat, which discussed key regional issues and common concerns.
So Naro added that on behalf of Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Manet expressed his appreciation to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his direct efforts and firm commitments in supporting Cambodia and Thailand in resolving their conflict through peaceful means. He also recognised the indispensable role of US President Donald Trump in facilitating the ceasefire agreement between the two nations, as well as the contributions of ASEAN leaders in deploying the ASEAN Observer Team (IOT) to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.
He further highlighted that through the concerted efforts of the ASEAN Chair and the involvement of President Donald Trump, the “Joint Declaration” between Cambodia and Thailand was signed on 26 October 2025, witnessed and facilitated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that Prime Minister Hun Manet underlined three priorities for ASEAN moving forward as follows (1) Strengthening regional integration across all dimensions; (2) Harnessing the vast potential of the digital economy, which is projected to reach USD 2 trillion in GDP by 2030, driven by the advancement of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement; (3) Ensuring ASEAN’s development is sustainable and environmentally responsible.
During the ASEAN Summit mission, Prime Minister Hun Manet’s diplomatic activities were intensive, described as a “diplomacy marathon”, in order to fulfil Cambodia’s diplomatic duties. He attended 18 official meetings and held 15 bilateral engagements with leaders and key figures from various countries. So Naro stressed that this mission to Malaysia brought significant achievements in elevating Cambodia’s international standing and securing peace for the nation.
=FRESH NEWS
