Cambodia highlights opportunities, challenges of upcoming ASEAN Community

Cambodia highlights opportunities, challenges of upcoming ASEAN Community

Shanghai Daily | Oct 14,2015

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Wednesday underscored the major opportunities and challenges of the ASEAN Community, which will be realized by the end of this year.

Speaking during a meeting with Cambodian youths here, Hor Namhong said the upcoming ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

"ASEAN Community's main opportunities are focused on a single market and production base with a free flow of goods, services, investments, capital and skilled labor, while its challenges include integration, development gap, physical connectivity, institutional connectivity and people-to-people connectivity in the region," he said.

Hor Namhong, who is also a deputy prime minister, said ASEAN is moving another step toward the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the detailed documents of the three pillars will be adopted by the leaders of ASEAN in the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next month.

Established in 1967 in Bangkok, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.