US Secretary of State to attend ASEAN Meeting today

PHUKET, 22 July 2009 (NNT) – The ASEAN Foreign Ministers will have meeting sessions with their dialogue partners today in Phuket province. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also attend the event.

The whole day program will consist of meetings between the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and dialogue partners from Australia, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, China, New Zealand, Russia, the European Union, India and the US. The highlight of the meetings today is the signing of Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the US Secretary of State. The TAC has the objective to promote perpetual peace and everlasting amity as well as cooperation among the ASEAN nations and the US.

During the morning session, there will be the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Informal Consultations and the Meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum Defense Officials which will discuss the North Korea’s nuclear program.

In the evening, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his wife will host a dinner for the participating Foreign Ministers and their wives at the Trisara Hotel at 07.00pm.