‘Active, fruitful’ negotiations expected as 55th AMM officially kicks off Aug 3

(The Phnom Penh Post/ANN) -- The 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings are underway in Phnom Penh, with the official opening presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen scheduled for August 3, according to official agenda seen by The Post.
Sim Vireak, head of the General Department of Asean  at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, chaired a July 30 meeting with the delegation of senior Asean officials in charge of document drafting in the lead-up to the official opening.
“We hope that negotiations will be active and fruitful,” he said briefly in a social media post. Foreign minister Prak Sokhonn said on July 30 that he was expecting the 55th AMM and Related Meetings to be a hectic week for all of the professionals and support staff involved.
“During this historic event, we seek understanding from our local residents for the traffic congestion and other protocol arrangements. This once-in-a-decade duty will be yet another milestone for Cambodia as a member of Asean , as well as an active contributor in the region,” he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to meet with the Asean  foreign ministers and the bloc’s secretary-general when he announces the formal opening of the 55th AMM and Related Meetings on August 3. The related meetings include that of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free-zone Commission, the Asean  Foreign Ministers’ Interface Meeting with Asean  Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Representatives, the Asean  Post Ministerial Conferences with Asean ’s Dialogue Partners, the 23rd Asean Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the 12th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 29thAsean  Regional Forum
According to the AMM’s agenda, on August 3 the Asean  foreign ministers and secretary-general will witness the signing of the Instruments of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) by Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Three separate tripartite meetings between Cambodia, the Asean Secretariat and three Asean  dialogue partners are also on the agenda. They will meet with Norway and Turkey on August 3 and Switzerland on August 4.
Four other countries will be invited as guests of the 2022 Asean  chair – Papua New Guinea, Morocco, East Timor and Azerbaijan.

(Latest Update August 2, 2022)