ASEAN Drafting Committee Begins Preparations Ahead Of 58th Foreign Ministers' Meeting

KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 (Bernama) -- The Drafting Committee of the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) convened here today, marking the start of vital preparatory work ahead of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and related meetings scheduled to take place next week.

The session, chaired by Undersecretary of the High-Level Task Force ASEAN-Malaysia National Secretariat Datuk Suhaimi Jaafar, focused on, among others, negotiating and finalising the Joint Communique, which will be the key outcome document of the 58th AMM.

The communique is expected to highlight the collective positions and decisions of ASEAN Foreign Ministers on regional integration, community-building efforts and issues of regional and international concern.

The drafting session is also seen as a crucial step in setting the agenda and tone ahead of the Ministerial-level deliberations.

Timor-Leste, which is attending as an observer, also participated in the session.

The 58th AMM and related meetings, to be held under Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship themed ‘Inclusivity and Sustainability,’ will feature 24 ministerial-level meetings, including engagements with ASEAN Dialogue Partners and Sectoral Dialogue Partners.

In conjunction with the meetings, Malaysia will also host the Fourth Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV). 

Co-chaired with Japan and Palestine, the conference will discuss initiatives to support the reconstruction and development of Gaza and Palestine.

The high-level meetings, to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from July 8 to 11, will gather about 1,500 delegates, including foreign ministers from ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, ASEAN Dialogue Partners, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) participating countries, Sectoral Dialogue Partners and senior officials from the ASEAN Secretariat.

-- BERNAMA